Multum in Parvo, 2020-2021 by The Gunston School

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Multum in Parvo

25th Anniversary of becoming a day school

How can you support Gunston? Let us count the ways.

Our funding comes from two sources: The Gunston School is an independent school and organized as a not-for-profit and governed by an elected Board of Trustees.

85% TUITION & FEES

15%

CHARITABLE DONATIONS

Heron Fund Endowment Grants Major Gifts Special Events

YOUR PARTICIPATION

YOUR SPONSORSHIP

Make an annual gift to the Heron Fund. Large participation numbers, especially among faculty, parents and our Board show confidence in the school, and can impact gifts from outside sources. Most foundations consider parent participation rates before donating funds to a school. Each and every gift is important and we are grateful for your support!

The success of our events is entirely dependent upon the generosity of the community. You can support these events by serving on an event committee, purchasing tickets, donating an item to the auction, bidding on auction items, or considering an individual or corporate sponsorship.

YOUR LEADERSHIP Invest in the future of Gunston by making a leadership gift, serving on a committee, including the school in your estate plans, volunteering as a community advocate, and more.

Become a 2022-2023 Heron Hero by sponsoring multiple events! Receive a discounted rate and year-long recognition. Individual event sponsorships are also available.

GET IN TOUCH: Email us at advancement@gunston.org or call 410-758-0620 ext. 1101

head of school Dear Gunston Family, If you’re wondering about the cover of this year’s Multum, here’s the story. Out of the blue this past summer, Alexia Bivings pulled up to the front doorstep of the Head’s Residence with her family while I was doing some yard work. Alexia attended Gunston in the wartime 1940’s and she wanted to show her family her old “dorm.” We had a great conversation about life at Gunston in those wartime years, and we then snapped a photo. Later, Alexia shared with us a teenage snapshot of her and a friend in front of the same house, nearly 70 years before! Gunston has shaped young people’s lives for over a century, and in this era of instability and transformation, Gunston has been a rock of consistency this year. We exist in a time when an ordinary school year feels extraordinary. Embarkation, 9th Grade Retreat, Green & White Day, fall athletics, Back to School Night, visits from colleges, the National Honor Society assembly, in-person classes— this year we welcomed all of these back onto our calendar and into our lives. Head of School John Lewis, wife Laurie and daughters Bea and Millie.

This issue of Multum in Parvo is both backward and forward looking. Twenty five years later, we gaze back upon one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the school: our transition from an all-girls boarding school to a co-ed day school. Many individuals contributed to this article, and we’re grateful that they shared their memories with us. Looking ahead, our mission of striving to “educate ethically and environmentally minded scholars, citizens and leaders for our globalized society” has never seemed more pressingly relevant. As we move forward toward another important inflection point in the school’s history— implementing a visionary facilities master plan and innovative programming in environmental teaching and learning— the Multum shares our plans and progress in both areas.

We rise and fall together as a community, and this year we’ve risen to new heights. For this, we are grateful to our deeply dedicated teachers and staff, to our students and families, to members of our leadership team, and to our forward-looking Board of Trustees. We’re also grateful to every person who contributed to Gunston’s Heron Fund, sponsored or attended one of our fundraising events, or volunteered. Each year I spend living on Gunston’s campus with my family — and this is our 12th— my love for the school’s campus and my passion for our mission deepens further. It’s a privilege to be part of this community, and we’re delighted to share our stories and our progress in this year’s Multum. Enjoy! John Lewis Head of School

ON THE COVER: Alexia (Beck) Bivings ’44 stopped by campus one day while Head of School John Lewis (right) was out doing yard work. Black and white photo was taken in 1943 with Pamela Terry (left) and Alexia Bivings (right) in what was known then as the “cottage” or little house.”

Board of Trustees 2021-2022 Patrick Shoemaker, ’03, Chair Joe Janney, P ’21, Vice Chair Megan Cook, P ’22 ’24, Secretary Mara Schmittinger, P ’15, At-Large Patricia Parkhurst, ’88, P ’18 ’21 ’23, At-Large Jill Caron, P ’17 Greg Farley, P ’22 Rick de los Reyes, P ’23 Chris McClary, P ’21 ’23

Jill Meyerhoff, P ’11 ’13 Dr. Nina WagnerJohnston, P ’23 ’24

Board of Trustees 2020-2021 Patrick Shoemaker, ’03, Chair Patricia Parkhurst, ’88, P ’18 ’21 ’23, Vice Chair Mark Freestate, P ’98, Treasurer Megan Cook, P ’22 ’24, Secretary Mara Schmittinger, P ’15, At-Large Jill Caron, P ’17 Greg Farley, P ’22 Kurt Gray, P ’18 Joe Janney, P ’21

Chris McClary, P ’21 ’23 Elizabeth McCown, P ’11 Jill Meyerhoff, P ’11 ’13 James Wright

Gunston Parents’ Association 2021-2022

Irene Hansen, P ’23, President Dawn Clair, P ’19 ’22, Vice President Lori Hammond, P ’24, Secretary Julie Gillespie, P ’20 ’22 ’24, Sports Liaison 2022 Room Parents: Tracy Campbell, P ’22 ’23, Lisa Miller, P ’22, Stacey Sharpless, P ’20 ’22 2023 Room Parents: Christine Amygdalos, P ’20 ’23 Melody Melvin, P ’23, Nate Pope, P ’23 2024 Room Parents: Jen Brown, P’23 ’34, Micelle Hallmark, P ’24 2025 Room Parents: Alyson Beasley, P ’25, Rebecca Hanlon, P ’22 ’25, Jennifer Runz, P ’24 ’25

Gunston Parents’ Association 2020-2021 Bess Riddle, P ’21, President Emily Shifrin, P ’21, Vice President Dawn Clair, P ’19 ’22, Secretary Julie Gillespie, P ’20 ’22 ’24, Sports Liaison 2021 Room Parents: Cristy Beckman, P ’21 & GiGi Hershey, P’21 and Allison Rogers, P ’21 ’24 2022 Room Parents: Tracy Campbell, P ’22 ’23 Stacey Sharpless, P ’20 ’22 2023 Room Parents: Irene Hansen, P ’23, Karen Talbott, P’20 ’23 2024 Room Parents: Micelle Hallmark, P ’24, Jennifer Runz, P ’24 ’25 Editor & Creative Director: Marie K. Thomas Contributing Writers: Emily Beck, Susie Fordi ’18, John Lewis, Wendy Mitman Clarke, P ’15 ’16, Peter Sturtevant, Jr., and Patrick Shoemaker ’03. Contributing Photographers: Jessica Coner, Derrika Baughman, P ’16 ’22 ’24 ’26 , Micelle Hallmark, P ’24, Torrey Pocock, P ’22. 2

contents 6 farewell

A letter from our Board Chair Patrick Shoemaker ’03, Green & White Awards, Disembarkation and Graduation

10 welcome Embarkation and Convocation

14 news

Last spring we said goodbye to a few Gunston Greats as they retired after a combined 58 years of service. Cross Country places first in ESIAC Championships plus Volleyball comes to Gunston! Bull Roast returns (and other special events). Board approves Master Facilities Plan and welcomes new members.

20 features 20 Making the Double-Switch: 25 Years Later In the mid-1990’s, Gunston attempted a rare feat, becoming a co-ed day school after decades as an all-girls boarding school.

26 The Study of Climate Science: A graduation requirement that might just save the world one day by Wendy Mitman Clarke, P ’15 ’16 Officially integrated into the curriculum in 1994, environmental programming at Gunston continues to outpace and exceed national standards almost three decades later with its immersive and hands-on learning experiences.

32 A Deep Dive by Emily Beck Chesapeake Watershed Semester is back!

35 class notes 37 Alexia Beck Bivings ’44

by Susie Fordi ’18 Believed to be the school’s oldest living alumna, this is her story of boarding school days at the end of Gunston Road.

46 In Memory Of

48 advancement Heron Annual Fund Highlights

Printing & Mailing:

The Gunston School, Inc. PO BOX 200 | 911 Gunston Rd. Centreville, MD 21617

Ironmark, Annapolis Junction, MD

chair of the board Dear Gunston Community, The people that make up the Gunston community have always been the school’s biggest strength. I am grateful for my fellow alumni that go forth with a holistic foundation and a strong sense of community to become the world’s next generation of leaders, while also remaining committed to the school that helped them get there. I am grateful for the faculty and staff’s relentless commitment to personalization and support for each student (throughout all stages of the school’s history); for my fellow members of the board who donate their time and expertise, often staying on for multiple terms (if you see Betsy McCown, Mark Freestate and Jim Wright, please thank them for their decades of service!); and I believe I share this sentiment broadly with everyone when I say I am especially grateful for the parents and guardians that support our efforts on a daily basis. When I first arrived at what was then known as Gunston Day School, the institution had only been co-ed for about three years and had only recently launched its very first parents association. As Mrs. Grabis mentions on page 24, “We weren’t used to having parents on campus every day. The school was no longer a cloistered place, so there were some bumpy moments, but our new parents threw themselves into supporting Gunston Day School with their volunteer energy.” Gunston’s strong parental support network has been a critical component of the school’s continued growth and success, and remains true today. The Gunston Parents’ Association (GPA) has, without fail, stepped up to lend a hand with everything from planning fundraisers, recruiting new students and donors, mentoring new families, providing crucial philanthropic support, and donating their time and invaluable leadership skills on various committees and boards. They work diligently to ensure our faculty and staff feel appreciated year-round—not to mention the hours spent ferrying students to far flung athletic games and other competitions. During the 2020-2021 academic year, when it felt like we held our breath every day to see if we’d remain open and the COVID mitigation efforts felt as though an extra 30 hours was added to every work week, members of the GPA stood at the ready. Parent volunteers manned the large outdoor homework tent in rain, shine, and bitter cold weather. They volunteered to substitute for classes, and often came at a moment’s notice. They worked especially hard at providing opportunities for everyone to just feel 4

normal and enjoy themselves for a moment— putting together a Winter Carnival, making hundreds of s’more kits for open mic nights, delivering food and gift baskets to faculty and staff, setting up and breaking down events, the list goes on. In Mr. Dize’s commencement speech, he advised the graduating class to “remember to thank people. You didn’t get here by yourself. Also, don’t wait until it’s too late.”

So a huge thank you to our Gunston community—faculty, staff, board, alumni, parents and guardians—both past and present, because the school didn’t get to where it is today without your support and we will certainly need it to get where we are going.

P.S. As someone with a 20-year reunion coming up, I highly encourage my fellow alums (Looking at you Classes of ’72, ’75 and ’02!) to reach out to Gunston’s External Relations Events Director Lynda Scull at lscull@gunston.org.

Sincerely, Patrick Shoemaker ’03 Chair of the Board, pictured standing, far right 5

green and white awards DISEMBARKATION

“We have reached the pot of gold that we have worked so hard to find, and we may now reflect on everything we’ve accomplished. After all, no pot of gold can exist without a rainbow to guide the seekers of success. [...] Orange, the color of courage and confidence, in our rainbow, symbolizes our growth as leaders. We all started out as meek little freshmen looking up to the students around us to see how to survive being a high schooler, but now look at us. Club leaders, student government officers, Green and White captains, sports teams captains, national honor society members, I could go on. We’ve gracefully settled into our roles as leaders of the school and I wholeheartedly believe that Gunston has given us the necessary tools to continue to be leaders in every aspect of our lives. The Class of 2021 is filled with big ideas and huge ambitions, and I’m so excited to see where life takes us.” – LYDIA PERICONI, VALEDICTORIAN ADDRESS (Studying veterinary and biomedical science at Penn State Schreyer Honors College.)

(Top) John Lewis presents the Samuel A. Middleton Award (Valedictorian) to Lydia Periconi.

(Above) Former athletic director Anita Gruss (standing to the right) was on hand to present the Anita Gruss Athletic Award to Kylee Rushton (far left) and Sydney Nittle (second from left) in addition to recognizing the following 12 Star Athletes: (l-r) Lydia Periconi, Jack Pigman, Max Brady, James Fordi, Kayla Flood, Olivia Hershey, and Ranger Hightower.

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(Middle) Christie Grabis presents the prestigious Gunston Award (chosen by the vote of the entire school) to Jack Pigman. (Bottom) White Team captains Campbell Parkhurst and Sydney Nittle pose with the championship cup on behalf of their team’s victory for the 2020-2021 school year.

The following students were recognized with awards: SENIORS: Samuel A. Middleton Award (Valedictorian): Lydia Periconi The Gunston Award: Jack Pigman Leadership Award: Henry Shifrin Diversity Leader Award: Orion McCluskey Marguerite Thomas Service Award (Community Service): Lillian Ward Moore Award for Improvement: Zachary Anderson The Faculty Award: Connor Reichardt, Marion Riddle, Charles Shifrin Environmental Stewardship Award: Olivia Hershey The Anita Gruss Athletics Award: Sydney Nittle, Kylee Rushton Art Award: Henry Shifrin, Hannah Worth Music Award: Phebe Wood Theatre Award: Severin Schut Mathematics Award: Ethan Nuessle Engineering Award: Joshua Sanford Science Award: Helen Boone, Lydia Periconi History (Capt. John P. W. Vest Award): Campbell Parkhurst Spanish Award: Lydia Periconi English (Sandra Slacum Spears Award): Avy Aubin Literature (Hila C. Ferguson Award): Lillian Ward Senior Paradigm Project Award: Hannah Worth Green Team Captains: Isabella Adams, Max Brady White Team Captains: Campbell Parkhurst, Sidney Nittle (Top) Josh Sanford and his advisor, Tom Chafey, during the brick laying ceremony. (Middle) Student Government Association President Olivia Hershey takes the “final walk” through campus during the disembarkation ceremony. (Bottom) Lily Berntsen waves to the camera as she and her classmates disembark from Gunston.

JUNIORS: Junior Symposium (Marie W. Whittico Award): Sofia Angarita Immersion Award: Carl Melander English Language Acquisition: Daniel Dang Megan V. Batdorf Award: Summer Salos Clare Poussard Award: Kallena Kemp Paul M. Long Award: Lucy Bamford 77

farewell

110th Commencement Honors 49 Students Isabella Webster Adams, Zachary Richard Anderson, Avy Rose Aubin, Brianna Ranae Barrett-Kennedy, Hannah Eve Beckman, Lily Marie Berntsen, Kenneth Charles Bonuccelli, Helen Abigail Boone, Maxmillian Xavier Brady, Suah Choi, Yongah Choi, Lydia Marie Davis, Kayla Irene Nicole Flood, James Philip Fordi, Glynis Paige Gardner, Reagan Olivia Gessford, Olivia Louisa Hershey, Samuel Ranger Hightower, Carter Watts Janney, Erika Uta Lee, Hyunseok Lee, Emma Katherine McClary, Orion Timothy McCluskey, Erin Ann McDonald, Aidan Thomas Myers, Sydney Gail Lorraine Nittle, Ethan Nathaniel Nuessle, Joseph Brennan O'Connor, Adison Dryden Parish, Campbell Hawkins Parkhurst, Lydia Grace Periconi, Jack Ryan Pigman, Connor Kevin Reichardt, Marion Somervell Riddle, Sean Patrick Riley, Kylee Whitman Rushton, Emily Catherine Ryon, Joshua Seth Sanford, Owen Edward Santora, Severin Suhaili Schut, Henry Bennett Sheets IV, Charles Robert Shifrin, Henry William Shifrin, Christian James Walker, Colin James Ward, Lillian Taylor Ward, Phebe Lace Wood, Hannah Margaret Worth, and Yi Zhang.

The Gunston School celebrated its 110th commencement on Saturday, June 12, honoring the Class of 2021 with a waterfront ceremony overlooking the Corsica River, as family and friends looked on. The procession began with Bagpiper Robert Wallace, followed by school faculty and staff, and then the graduating seniors. Senior Class President and Valedictorian Lydia Periconi greeted the audience and her peers before each graduate shared their senior quote aloud. Head of School John Lewis then introduced the commencement speaker, Mr. Ben Dize, a retiring faculty member who has spent just over 50 years teaching, with the last 22 spent at Gunston as the chair of the art department. (see page 14) Mr. Lewis and Gunston’s Chair of the Board Patrick Shoemaker ’03 then presented each graduate with their diploma, individually handcrafted by faculty member Mike Kaylor on an antique letterpress. This year’s senior class had a successful college admission season and worked hard to earn $7.3 million dollars in merit scholarships.

(Top left, clockwise) Ben Dize gives the commencement address. Addie Parish, Lilli Ward, and Sydney Nittle with their bouquets (a graduation tradition). Kylee Rushton holds up his diploma. Chair of the Board Patrick Shoemaker ’03 and Mrs. Grabis during the procession into the tent. Mr. Lewis gives Kenneth Bonuccelli a fist bump. Emma McClary recites her senior quote (another graduation tradition).

Mr. Dize posed the question: “What is it about Gunston that makes it special? Every senior here probably has a slightly different answer. For some, it’s the lifetime friendships that were made here. For others, it’s a certain teacher who saw in them something they did not see themselves. It might have been the freedom to be an individual, or the chance to be a leader. Whatever your path has been, Gunston has played a role in your becoming. Gunston changes lives, alters attitudes, opens doors to self-discovery, challenges ways of thinking, and makes written communication an essential part of an individual’s educational journey. For all of us, the past 15 months has been a time of historic challenges and changes. We all have a shared story here—shared loss, shared pain, shared disappointments. But there are things I would like you to remember: BE KIND. As our parents used to say, ‘it doesn’t cost you anything.’ And, as a teacher colleague of mine used to say, ‘Do not mistake kindness for weakness.’ REMEMBER TO THANK PEOPLE. You didn’t get here by yourself. Also, don’t wait until it’s too late. BE GENEROUS. You’ll probably run out of time before you run out of money. I love quotes, and perhaps my favorite is, ‘Life is not about getting and having, it is about being and becoming.’ This is your time to be and become.” 9

welcome EMBARKATION CEREMONY WELCOMES Embarkation Largest Incoming Class in School History and Convocation The Gunston School commenced its 111th year (and its 25th anniversary of becoming a day school) on Friday, September 10, with the annual Embarkation tradition, welcoming a total of 74 new students and 13 new staff and faculty to the community by boat. After exchanging a fist bump with the Head of School, newcomers signed the school’s Honor Code, and made their way up the hill to greet fellow students and current staff and faculty. The 2021-2022 ceremony included 62 9th graders, nine 10th graders, and three 11th graders. Parents and family members were invited to watch from the shoreline as students arrived. The event, originally scheduled for the first day of classes on September 1, was postponed due to adverse weather conditions. After Embarkation, students and faculty met in the Field House for convocation and to officially begin the academic year with the ringing of the bell. (Below) New students prepare to embark.

(Above) Mrs. Grabis rings the school bell as Student Government Association Executive Officers Sofia Angarita ’22, Damian René ’23 and Maren Kneeland ’24 look on. (Opposite page, top left clockwise) Students arrive by boat to Gunston’s dock. Evan Zottarelli ’25 gives Mr. Lewis a fist bump, Grayson Allen ’25 flashes a thumbs up to the camera. Zach LeFleur ’22 and Thomas Umidi ’22. Morgan Garner ’22, Summer Salos ’22, and Ava Duvall ’22. Students line the hill leading to the waterfront to welcome new students and faculty (Victoria MacGlashan ’25 in foreground).

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welcome

(From left) Adele Showalter, Emily Coffey, Jen Matthews, Lynda Scull (who joined Gunston last year after Embarkation took place), Katelyn Larrimore, Victoria Windmiller, Taleya Zinnea, Sara Grantham, Melissa Haber, Josh Breto, Tony D’Antonio, and Dr. Ryan Asprion. Not pictured: Valerie Birkeland. Opposite page: Seniors Lexi Meiklejohn and Ainsleigh Pocock hold up the “Responsibilities of the Community.”

The Gunston School is delighted to announce the addition of several new staff and faculty members for the 2021-2022 academic year. “With several retirements last year and our enrollment of 235 students, we’ve expanded our staffing this year, and we’re delighted to welcome an extraordinarily talented group of educators to campus,” said Head of School John Lewis. Melissa Haber is the new Chief Financial Officer. She earned a degree in business management from the University of South Carolina and a master’s in education from Johns Hopkins with a focus on educational leadership. She previously served for five years as the Assistant Head of School for Finance and Operations at Kent School in Chestertown. Mrs. Haber also held significant leadership roles in the Admissions and Finance departments of Indian Creek School in Crownsville, Md. Anthony D’Antonio and Emily Coffey have joined the team as Co-directors of College Guidance. Mrs. Coffey joins us from Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas where she served as their college counselor. She recently received a national award as a 2021 “Counselor that 12

Changes Lives” by the highly-regarded Colleges that Change Lives consortium. She graduated magna cum laude with distinction from Hendrix College with a degree in sociology and English, and received her master’s from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Mr. D’Antonio worked for 17 years as the Director of College Counseling at Worcester Prep School in Berlin, Md., where he also served four years as Assistant Headmaster. Before Worcester, he was the associate Dean of Admissions at Salisbury University where he was also an Assistant Men’s Soccer coach. He earned his bachelor of science degree and two master’s degrees from Salisbury University and from the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore in counseling and education psychology. Jen Matthews ’05 is the new Database Administrator for External Relations. In addition to being an alumna, she brings more than a decade of experience in fundraising, alumni relations, database management, grant writing, event planning, and donor stewardship. Previously, she served as the Director of Development & Alumni Relations at Kent School.

Taleya Zinnea joins the math department, having recently graduated from George Mason University, where she earned a bachelor of science in applied mathematics, and where she worked extensively as a learning assistant and peer mentor. She’s a talented mathematician and programmer, with experience in several programming languages such as Python, MATLAB, and LaTeX. Additionally, Ms. Zinnea is fluent in two languages, speaking English and Urdu fluently, and she has working proficiency in Arabic and Spanish as well. Valerie Birkeland also joins the math department, receiving her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Salisbury University. Eager both to teach and coach, she has experience designing curriculum lesson plans for all levels of mathematics classes, and is formerly the mathematics, science and digital literacy teacher at the Lucy School in Middletown, Md. Adele Showalter is teaching biology and chemistry. Showalter has extensive experience teaching AP biology and implementing science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) curriculum. Her independent school experience includes tenure at Metairie Park Country School in New Orleans, as well as at The Country School in Easton. Having taught in public schools, she was named the Caroline County Teacher of the Year in 2004-2005. Mrs. Showalter graduated from Cook College, Rutgers (now known as the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences) with a bachelor of science in environmental studies. Also joining the science department is Sara Grantham, who is teaching chemistry. Mrs. Grantham possesses a deep knowledge of science, having earned a double major in biology and marine/environmental science from Salisbury University as well as a master’s degree in chemistry/life sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park. She has a wide range of interests, having worked with youth as a Park Ranger, a volunteer for the Boy Scouts, and a member of the Caroline County Arts Council—all the while serving as a full-time lab scientist at Eurofins. Katelyn Larrimore ’16 is another Gunston alumna, and she joins us as a humanities teacher and sailing coach.

She recently graduated from Washington College with a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education and spent extensive time interning at Kent County High School. During her student career at Gunston, Ms. Larrimore was an honors student and captain of the sailing team, and she looks forward to engaging with students both in the classroom and on the water. Victoria Windmiller is the new Art Department Chair, having served in a part-time role last year. She earned her bachelor’s in fine arts from Shepherd University and a master’s in education from Loyola University. She has extensive teaching experience both in the United States and New Zealand, as well as a strong background in athletics, especially swimming and triathlon. Dr. Ryan Asprion is the new Performing Arts Chair. A native of Louisiana, Dr. Asprion joins Gunston after successful tenures at two strong New Orleans independent schools, first as the Band Director at St. Martin’s Episcopal School and then as Music Director at Stuart Hall School for Boys. He earned both bachelors and masters degrees in music from the University of Mississippi (where he played for their famed marching band) before recently earning a doctorate in educational leadership from Xavier University in New Orleans. His experience includes leading choirs, bands, theater productions, guitar groups, world music drummers, and handbell ensembles. Josh Breto joined the team as our new Athletic Director. Mr. Breto served as the Assistant Athletic Director at Garrison Forest School in Baltimore, and before his tenure at Garrison, he was the Technical Trainer and a Head Coach at the Soccer Association of Columbia, Maryland. He played Division I soccer at The Ohio State University, where he was a Big Ten All-Freshman selection, a member of the 2009-2010 regular season and tournament champion team, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference awardee, and the winner of the Big Ten Conference Sportsmanship Award in 2012. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in city and regional planning, and played professional soccer briefly in Germany’s “Regionaliga” for FSV Optik Rathenow in Berlin.

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E V E N TS The Golfing “fore” Gunston II fundraiser on May 3 at the Prospect Bay Country Club in Grasonville welcomed 90 golfers and two tennis players. Combined with an online auction, the event raised $30,000 for the Heron Annual Fund. The day’s winners include: First Place with a gross score of 57, Mark Seaman, P’19’22, Carl Seaman, David Duda, and Joe Deluzio. The winner of the Longest Drive was Casey Grieves (347'); Closest to the Pin winner was Rich Biondi (10'11'') with a final gross score of 86, and “Last Place Winners” were Torrey Pocock, Mark McVicker, Bryan Krandle and Justin Pacheco. SAVE-THE-DATE: May 2, 2022: gunston.org/golf22 On Saturday, October 23, Gunston held its signature fundraising event after a two-year hiatus and welcomed nearly 300 guests to the Bull & Oyster Roast, raising nearly $100,000. Attendees bid on more than 70 silent and live auction items that ranged from an array of fantastic vacations, golf outings, professional photography sessions, original artwork, charter fishing trips, a Paul Reed Smith guitar and more. “A huge thank you goes to our volunteers and members of the Gunston Parents’ Association,” said Event Director Lynda Scull. “From helping with decorations to securing auction items and volunteering to prepare and work the night of the event, parent involvement is crucial to the success of our events.” Save-the-date: October 22, 2022. The Heron Hustle 5K +1M Fun Run took place on Saturday, November 20 and welcomed students, parents, alumni, community supporters and even a few canine runners, raising just over $10,000. Coming in first place for the 5K under 18/male category was Colin Hallmark ’24 (18:58), followed by Aidan Trautman ’23 in second (20:09), and Zach Mozher ’23 in third (20:40). For the 5K over 18/male category, Dylan Hurlock came in first (20:22), followed by Sam Umidi ’19 in second (20:46), and Bobby Stephenson in third (21:05). For the 5K under 18/female category, Allie Fitzgerald ’24 came in first (24:25), followed by Zoe Buzzelli ’24 in second (24:55). For the 5K over 18/female category, first place went to Dani de los Reyes, P ’24 (26:36), with Jayci Frederick coming in second (27:40), and Jen Traver in third place (28:46). Top winners in the one mile fun run include (under 18/female) Eli Ireland ’23 (8:47) and Lily Brantner ’25 (10:49), and (over 18/female) Adele Showalter, P ’25 (9:11), Jessica Newell (9:40), and Jillian Frederick (10:03). Alex Bent ’25 placed first for the under 18/male category (10:13) and Wallace Tieman placed first for the over 18/male category (19:18).

(From the top) Joe Deluzio, Carl Seaman, Mark Seaman, P ’19 ’22, and David Duda (not pictured) won first place with a gross score of 57. Shirley Lin, P ’25, Andy and Micelle Hallmark, P ’24, Ann and John Buzzelli, P ’24, Brandon and Cathy Keith, P ’24. Stephen Parkhurst, P’18’21’23, Steve Shenk, P ’11’15, Gunston Board Member Pat Parkhurst ’88, P’18’21’23 and Head of School John Lewis.

Ben Cook ’24, Colin Hallmark ’24 (5K/under 18 M first place), Liam Dickey ’24, Allie Fitzgerald ’24 (5K/under 18 F first place), Zoe Buzzelli ’24 (5k/under 18 F second place).

ST UDE N TS Seniors Abbey Miller and Maggie Miller of Easton, Md., have been selected as semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit® Scholarship Program, making them part of the top 16,000 high school students selected out of 1.5 million qualified applicants. National Merit semifinalists represent less than one percent of high school seniors in the United States and include the highest-scoring entrants in each state. For the fall 2021 season, the Cross Country team, led by Coach Bobby Stephenson, won first place in the Eastern Shore Independent Athletic Conference (ESIAC) Championships. Boys Varsity Soccer led by Head Coach Juan Angarita & Assistant Coach Cam Angarita placed second, and the Golf Team, led by Head Coach Dave Bolyard, and Assistant Coaches John Hansen, P ’23 and C.O. Johnson, P ’25 also placed second. This was also the first year for the Volleyball program, which boasted full teams for both varsity and junior varsity, led by Head Coach Mariah Goodall and Assistant Coach Jessica Coner. On October 24, the crew team hosted its first official 5km Head Race, The Head of the Corsica, after the event was canceled at the last minute by the original host (an issue the crew program has faced more than once due to COVID-19). Assistant Athletic Director and Head Crew Coach Carter Law, along with fellow coaches Tammy Boone and Victoria Windmiller pulled the scrimmage regatta together with just four days of planning at Gunston’s waterfront to get the team ready for the larger regattas later in the season.

(From the top) Seniors Abbey Miller and Maggie Miller with Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Grabis. Aidan Trautman ’23, Kazys Morris ’25, Turner Day ’24, Colin Hallmark ’24, Georgia Gillespie ’22, Zach Steinberg ’25, Ben Cook ’24, and Coach Bobby Stephenson. Seniors Ashton Seaman, Jude Smith, Thomas Umidi, and Coach Juan Angarita. Isabelle Requena ’23, Maren Kneeland ’24, and Kelby Booth ’23.

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FAC ULT Y & STA F F Ben Dize, who served as the fine arts department chair and faculty member for 22 years, retired from full time teaching this past spring. He first began his career in Howard County at Mt. Hebron High School where he taught industrial arts and coached track. Later that spring he was offered a teaching position at Kent County High School in 1969, where he worked for 30 years before joining Gunston’s faculty. Mr. Dize is a Maryland native, born and raised in Crisfield, where he gained a deep appreciation for the Chesapeake Bay and its heritage. After graduating from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1968 and receiving an M.Ed. from Towson State University in 1972, he began his 50-year teaching career. “My philosophy is that everyone can learn to do art,” explains Mr. Dize. “Not everyone can become a great artist, but everyone can learn to produce a visual image that is satisfying to themselves.” Mr. Dize still offers a woodworking class part time at Gunston. (Excerpted from a story by Susie Fordi ’18.) Weixing Shepardson a.k.a. Mrs. Shep retired this spring after 20 years at Gunston. Considered to be the “toughest” mathematics teacher at Gunston, she was also the associate international student coordinator and mentor for many students who have come to Gunston from China and beyond. Mrs. Shep was born in Beijing amid a cultural revolution. Her father, a stern and disciplined man, taught her that science and technology were the keys to success. “My teachers said I was born to be a teacher. That’s why for my whole life I’ve never left school. I’ve gone from student to teacher to student to teacher,” says Mrs. Shep. She obtained both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Capitol Normal University in Beijing, China, and began teaching as soon as she graduated. In 1998, after many years of teaching high school in China, Mrs. Shep decided to come to America and pursue a degree in statistics at the University of Massachusetts. Even after this degree, Mrs. Shep knew she wanted to continue teaching. After one year in the public school system in Talbot County, Mrs. Shep applied to Gunston. She was thrilled to be able to teach in her own style and found that the students learned well in a more intense setting. While the freedom to develop her own teaching style is what drew Mrs. Shep in, she stayed for the community that she found. (Excerpted from a story by Henry Shifrin’21 & Susie Fordi ’18.)

Several varied and dynamic speakers have discussed a wide range of issues and topics with students and faculty. OCTOBER 2021

APRIL 2021 New York Times best-selling novelist Angeline Boulley spoke to students during In Celebration of Books about her groundbreaking novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, a Time Magazine pick for Best YA of All Time.

Earth Day festivities featured keynote speaker Imani Black, founder of Minorities in Aquaculture, an organization that promotes the benefits and sustainability of aquaculture, both in the Chesapeake Bay and worldwide, and works to educate and encourage minorities to pursue careers in all aspects of aquaculture. (Ms. Black is also Gunston’s assistant girls’ lacrosse coach.)

Becky Schmier retired after 16 years as the school’s business manager. Born and raised in Massachusetts, it was her childhood dream to be a teacher. While her career path ultimately led her in a different direction, she adds “I have loved my years at Gunston and feel like it brought me full circle, although I did not become a teacher, but instead an administrator in the education field. It has been my honor to be one of the stewards of the finances of the school and I look forward to hearing about all the growth Gunston has in its future”. “I first met Becky Schmier in the Summer of 2010,” recalls Head of School John Lewis. “For the vast majority of Gunston families, tuition is the single largest, most important , and often most stressful monthly expense. Over the years, many Gunston families have shared with me how Becky caringly partnered with them to sustain this investment in their children’s education.” Mike Clemens was awarded a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Maryland Chapter on November 14, 2021. During Clemens’s 21-year career at Gunston, in addition to teaching algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, he has served as coach in a variety of sports including junior varsity and varsity basketball (both boys and girls teams). He is also the proud parent of three Gunston alumnae. In addition to advising, teaching, and coaching, he mentors clubs and has served as an advisor to the Student Government Association. “For many years, Mike organized and led all of the annual student dances, and most recently has earned high praise as Bingo caller extraordinaire supporting employee and student events. Mike remains Gunston’s impassioned cheerleader,” adds Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis. John Lewis has been selected to join a small cohort of experienced national and international school heads for the 2021 Klingenstein Head of School Fellowship, a highly-selective program at the Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York City. The Klingenstein program’s goal is to offer veteran heads of school an intensive and inspirational mid-career professional development experience focusing on current educational issues, educational philosophy and ethics, and reflective practice.

MARCH 2021

The United States Coast Guard’s Diversity Peer Educators shared their personal experiences with diversity and inclusion efforts at the Coast Guard Academy in late March. Elizabeth Rush, author of Rising, Dispatches from the New American Shore, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, joined us for In Celebration of Books to discuss her “rigorously reported story about American vulnerability to rising seas, particularly disenfranchised people with limited access to the tools of rebuilding.”

(Opposite, from top) Ben Dize joins the procession to the dock for disembarkation. Mrs. Shep in her classroom. (Top) Becky Schmier places her brick during the Disembarkation ceremony with Mr. Lewis. (Back row, second left) Mike Clemens at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Awards.

FEBRUARY 2021

JANUARY 2021

Hampton Pirates Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach Chazz Woodson spoke to students in February about building good habits early, motivation, and figuring out your “why.”

Dr. Stephanie Dennis spoke about how the pandemic has amplified not just the difficulties experienced by those with learning differences, but across the board for everyone, and the importance of formulating a self-care action plan for yourself.

news ADDITIONAL PARKING

NEW FIELD

ADDITIONAL PARKING ADDITIONAL PARKING

NEW ATHLETICS CENTER

Development Options New Athletic Fields Options A

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Room to Grow: Facilities Master Plan

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NEW PERFORMING ARTS CENTER PARKING

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NEW CAMPUS PROMENADE

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NEW STEM CENTER

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In June 2021, Gunston’s Board of Trustees approved a Facilities Master Plan that aims to expand the school’s current facilities and programming to accommodate robust enrollment growth. The plan includes a STEM Center and Environmental Field Station to support the school’s dynamic science, math, robotics, and environmental programming, as well as a new Athletics Center and Performing Arts Center. Additional upgrades include expanded and upgraded athletic fields, the development of a central campus promenade, as well as parking improvements. “Our trustees have approved a plan that is equally ambitious and creative,” shared Head of School, John Lewis, “and the plan aims to align the school’s facilities with our needs and strengths, as well as our robust enrollment growth, which has grown nearly 80% since 2010. Our hope is to create one of the premier independent school campuses on the East Coast, anchored by our 35-acres of waterfront property.” 18

Led by the highly regarded architect Al Rubeling of JMT, the master planning process involved collaboration with every constituent group in the Gunston community — employees, parents, students, alumni, and community partners through surveys, focus groups, and thinking/ visioning exercises. “Al Rubeling led our previous master planning process with great success, and he coordinated a very intensive and inclusive process,” shared Board Chair, Patrick Shoemaker ’03. “Our goal was to create an updated Facilities Master Plan that resonates and transforms as powerfully as the one Gunston completed in 2011.” The 2011 plan resulted in a nearly $6 million renovation and enhancement of the school’s academic classrooms as well as the addition of both Fine Arts and Waterfront Athletic Centers. In recent years, Gunston acquired an additional 3-acre parcel of adjacent waterfront property, which will anchor the new STEM Center and Environmental Field Station.

Dr. Nina Wagner-Johnston, P ’23 ’24 also joined the board and also serves on Gunston’s Health Advisory Team. She is the Director of Lymphoma Drug Development at The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins as well as an Associate Professor of Oncology. Her research interests include clinical trial and biomarker development for patients with lymphoma. She is additionally involved in palliative/ supportive care research and has a particular interest in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

(From left, clockwise) Rick and Dani de los Reyes, P’23, Betsy McCown, P ’11, Jim Wright, Dr. Nina Wagner-Johnston, P ’23 ’24, and Mark Freestate, P’98. (Opposite page) The proposed Master Facilities Plans.

Rick de los Reyes, P ’23 joined the board in 2021. He serves as the portfolio manager for the Macro and Absolute Return Strategies and co-portfolio manager for the Multi-Strategy Total Return Fund in the Multi-Asset Division of T. Rowe Price. Additionally, he is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. Prior to joining the firm in 2006, he spent four years as an equity analyst for Soros Fund Management, LLC, where he followed industrial cyclical and tech/telecom companies and also worked as a senior analyst in mergers and acquisitions for Deutsche Bank in São Paulo, Brazil, and for BT Wolfensohn in New York. Mr. de los Reyes earned a B.A. in political science from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

The plan also reflects the school’s twin strategic goals of significantly enhancing its offerings in Athletics and the Performing Arts. These facilities will serve both Gunston students, as well as the hundreds of children who attend the Horizons and YMCA summer programs hosted on the school’s campus. Longtime admissions director David Henry shared, “While we currently have an extraordinary campus, talented students, and a deeply committed faculty, our enrollment growth has created some mismatches between the scope of our facilities and the scope of our programs. Simply put, our STEM, Athletics, and Performing Arts programs are outgrowing their current homes.”

Gunston’s Board of Trustees honored three long-serving board members who are retiring and include Betsy McCown, a former parent and Bay Studies Partner who served for a decade and provided invaluable leadership on the Chesapeake Watershed Semester advisory committee; Mark Freestate, a former Gunston parent and great champion of the school who completed his third tour on the Board and has also served as Chair; and Jim Wright, who leaves the board after serving five terms since 2008, having served as board chair, helped to bring both Horizons and the YMCA summer programs to Gunston and this past year, served on the COVID response team.

Mr. Lewis concludes, “Like our previous campus master plan that emphasized classrooms and common spaces with abundant natural light, this updated version aims to take full advantage of our campus setting. Since the times of Plato, it has been well understood that the physical environment is essential to inspiring student learning. At Gunston, we’re continually working to create optimal campus spaces for the educational experience.” Gunston currently enrolls 235 students from six Maryland counties and Delaware, and 11 international students from Germany, South Korea, China, and Spain. In 2021-2022, the school’s trustees and leadership team will be conducting a feasibility study with CCS Fundraising to determine next steps for bringing the campus master plan to reality. 19

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Making the Double-Switch:

25 years

later

In the mid-1990’s, Gunston attempted a rare feat, becoming a co-ed day school after decades as an all-girls boarding school.

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I. The Boarding School Era

n 1911 The Gunston Farm School first opened its doors to a tiny student population on the Corsica River property of Samuel and Mary Middleton. William Howard Taft was the President of the United States. In Gunston’s earliest days, it hosted a co-ed student population between the ages of 8-18, and teaching, learning, eating, and sleeping all happened under the roof of the Middletons’ Victorian farmhouse. Then, as now, students spent hours outdoors under the expansive Eastern Shore sky.

Several decades later, and after the passing of Samuel Middleton, the co-ed Gunston Farm School transitioned— both in name and identity—to The Gunston School for Girls. It was a hidden gem among all-girls boarding schools on the East Coast. For nearly seven decades young women flourished in the school’s small, nurturing environment, and afternoons were spent riding and caring for horses, sailing, and passing time on the school’s tranquil campus setting. Deep, lifelong relationships grew and thrived. While Gunston enrolled day students throughout, the boarding population dominated. The Middletons held a strong belief in rigorous academics coupled with the development of character as the two essential elements of a student’s education. The traditional curriculum focused on reading, writing, geography, and arithmetic. Annual Shakespeare plays were a feature of campus life. French, the language of diplomacy, was considered an essential subject, and each year the students would present plays in French at holiday time and at graduation.

Under the leadership of Paul Long, the school’s reputation for student-centered learning grew, and the Gunston School for Girls reached a peak boarding enrollment of nearly 80 boarders and 10 day students in the early 1970’s. The school mainly attracted girls from the mid-Atlantic region, but also from places as far afield as Kentucky, Minnesota, and Louisiana, and drew internationally from Spain, Brazil, Germany, and pre-revolution Iran. Gunston even drew the attention of the British royal family, who visited Queen Anne’s County in 1977 to unveil a statue of Queen Anne at the Centreville courthouse. With great fanfare and as part of the dedication Queen Anne Days celebration, the dashing Princess Anne (an Olympian equestrienne) and then-husband Mark Phillips paid the school a visit for a horseshow.

(Above) A group of students on horseback, circa 1940’s. (Right) An aerial view of Camp Gunston circa 1930. (Opposite, from top) “Camp Gunston,” circa 1930’s. A little boy on a small pony, circa 1930’s. Paul Long, Gunston’s former Head of School for nearly two decades pictured in 1971. A field trip to Washington D.C. circa 1963. A Mid Summer Night’s Dream performance, circa 1940’s. Students walking down Gunston Road, circa 1971. (Larger photo) Mary Middleton, circa 1960’s. 21

feature II. The Transition As the 1980’s and 1990’s proceeded, however, the school ran into financial hard times. Boarding school enrollments declined nationwide, and many all-male educational institutions were opening their doors to girls. Allgirls boarding schools like Gunston saw especially rapid enrollment drops. Current Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis, remembered, “We met with a boarding school recruitment consultant who said, ‘We’re having trouble finding girls who want to go to ANY boarding school, let alone a girls’ school.’” During this period, the school’s ratio of day-to-boarding students increased.

Gunston was faced with a major challenge: How to sustain the school’s culture while also ensuring the school’s survival?

Former Head of School Peter “Stick” Sturtevant, Jr. (pictured lower left in 1999) recalled: The decision to “go co-ed/day” was kindled within a brief, unique moment of time afforded by a number of overlapping and complementary needs. As if out of chaos theory, our moment arrived at a time when the notion of a small, all-girls boarding/day school had perhaps reached its zenith and was beginning to show signs of disintegration. Though we had made huge strides in recovering enrollment and had launched an exciting Bay Studies Program by the early 90’s, Gunston (and other schools like us) remained cautious about the long-term viability of our mission, given demographics, recent history and other indicators in the market. When my wife, Amy, and our 3 year-old triplet sons arrived in July of 1992, the school reported 27 re-enrolled and contracted students. We were told that if we did not enroll at least 40 by August first, we would consider closing the school! Fortunately, thanks to Anita Gruss, Director of Admissions, and her interview/tour team, we opened with 47 and a comeback ensued. A couple of hard-won years later, we learned there was a group of local parents and others from Talbot, Queen Anne’s, and Kent counties who were drumming up interest in establishing an independent day high school option to serve kids graduating from the Country and Kent schools, as well as from other schools in the region. Hitherto, the choices were public, parochial (some, a significant commute from home) or boarding school.

(Above) Head of School Peter “Stick” Sturtevant, Jr. in 1999. (Opposite, from top) Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis and husband Joe in 1994. Lois Duffey and Paul Long at the re-dedication of Middleton House in 2007. Anita Gruss in 1994. Alice Ryan and John Dillon at a Gunston event in 2017. The first co-ed class at The Gunston Day School on opening day in 1997. A group of students during the Centennial celebration in 2011.

Gunston had considered co-education several times during its long history, and in the girls era we had occasionally enrolled male day students. It made sense the parent group would at some point approach us and gauge our possible interest, given our campus and central location. We thought it was in the school’s best interest to meet and to hear them out. This meeting was arranged and Board Chair Louisa “Weasie” Heilman generously hosted the group at her waterfront estate. Gunston offered a beautiful campus, a perfectly central location, and an experienced staff. The parent group offered significant resources, campus renovations and a pipeline to local students. There was mutual concern about how soon we might attract students willing to “take a chance” on our “new” day school. The board quickly grasped the rationale and were intrigued by the prospect but, understandably,

were not willing to adopt such a strategy without considerably more due diligence and there was understandable concern about abandoning our mission on a “whim.” We had stabilized and had some momentum. Gunston was Gunston and proud of it. Why entertain such a drastic change, especially if only to forestall or co-opt the energies of a nascent loose collection of parents whose vision was not necessarily in alignment with our own? Along with several other board members, I intuited this was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the school. If we didn’t start the co-ed day school at Gunston, others would establish it elsewhere. We felt that if another school began elsewhere, this could deal us a crippling blow, given the precariousness of our position. Mr. Mark Freestate eventually replaced Weasie as board chair, and we navigated the process together of working with so many variables at once under the direction of a brash new board of old and new members. Soon after, the groups decided to work together to refashion the school, and we hired an experienced independent school consultant to lead a retreat. This retreat was both exciting and bruising. During the retreat, we hammered out basic frameworks and understandings. This may be hard to believe now, given where the school is, but closing the school was seriously discussed. This was a notion with some support among the parents group who questioned whether the present Gunston mission might dilute selling their vision for an elite academic school. This was a notion that Gunston soundly rejected. We would be loyal to our faculty and students and see them through. In exchange, however, we would work furiously to transition to a co-educational school by the following fall, and we agreed to modify the school’s name to Gunston Day School. We hired a fundraising consulting firm, created a video and materials and began selling our vision ASAP. After a feasibility study, we launched a capital campaign to transition the school’s boarding facilities into day school classroom space. No one worked harder or more thanklessly than the loyal Gunston faculty who had weathered uncertainty and hardship for many years and who nonetheless never lost their essential belief in the school or in the kids during the transition. Their hard work and support will never be forgotten. Long-term benefactor Lois Duffey provided rare leadership as did Michael Batza, former parent and long-standing board member, who co-chaired the campaign along with local resident Barbara Gale. Barbara and her husband Tom Gale sparked the leadership phase of the campaign with an unprecedented gift, followed by those from Lois Duffey and alumna, Alice Ryan. Penny Hatten, another alumna, remained on the board along with the others and was also a campaign leader.

feature Mrs. Christie Grabis, who was then in her 12th year at Gunston, recalled the difficult moment of delivering the news of the transition to a deeply invested generation of current students and alumnae who had called Gunston home. Most painful was informing the group of young women who were already enrolled. She recalled, “We found a way to allow the boarders to complete their Gunston career, but it was a heartbreaking moment for any Gunston girl who boarded–past and present. When the letter of the transition was sent, we followed with an all-school meeting and breakout groups. It was an emotional moment. There was anger and tears. I remember that a team of us called every single family to follow up on the announcement.” The school was committed to providing a home for every former boarder who wished to graduate from Gunston. For several years after the dorm rooms finally closed, a small group of Gunston girls lived with local host families, including faculty members like Anita Gruss. The admissions team hit the road to talk to schools about Gunston, and in the fall of 1996, just as the presidential campaign between incumbent President Bill Clinton and the late Senator Robert Dole was heating up, a new era—the school’s third, as Gunston Day School— launched. Ms. Gruss remembered, “The newly-enrolled day school students never knew how important their impact was on the future of Gunston. Their effort and enthusiams spoke volumes.” Longtime faculty members Sarah and Tony Everdell shared,

“Both of us feel that the most important gift handed down from the Gunston School for Girls to Gunston Day School era was the relentless emphasis on the needs of each individual student. This idea was ahead of its time, and preceded many other schools’ change in values. It remains at the heart of the school philosophy both then and now. It is what schools should be.” (Right) Tony and Sarah Everdell at the dedication of the Everdell building in 2015. Alumni, faculty, and staff pose in front of Middleton during the Centennial celebration in 2011. 24

The first co-ed day students enrolled in 9th grade, and the school was built upward from there. The first male applicant to the school was Will Wheatley, the brother of current Gunston Spanish teacher Avis Wheatley. Enrollment rose immediately, and the school grew from 45 students to 70 students in the first year. The new growth brought opportunities for academics and athletics, and the school needed to build an entirely new calendar for dances, clubs, and student government. Having boys on campus brought unique challenges. Hours of meeting time was spent debating the question “dress code vs. uniform,” and many new policies needed to be developed. Mrs. Grabis remembers, “We had no culture of boys on campus, nor did we even have rules for boys. They added some wear and tear to the facility that we hadn’t had before. In those first few years, we created the Responsibilities of the Community, which has guided us ever since.” A larger number of students raised the competitive athletic culture at the school. “A new competitive spirit was evident,” shared Ms. Gruss, “and I was always proud of the way our teams supported other Gunston teams, coming to games and cheering on the sidelines. We added the color white to our traditional green-navy blue uniforms, we created the G-bird, and Gunston was instrumental in the launch of the ESIAC [Eastern Shore Independent Athletic] conference. The championship banners in the field house were great for school spirit.” Two traditions that continue to link the boarding and day school eras are Green and White Day and the unveiling of the yearbook. “I thought that the Green & White Day tradition would fade,” reflected Ms. Gruss, “but it became even bigger than before. Keeping the day a surprise was harder than ever, and the announcement took on new energy.” The school also launched its first parents association. “We weren’t used to having parents on campus every day,” reflected Mrs. Grabis, “The school was no longer a cloistered place, so there were some bumpy moments, but our new parents threw themselves into supporting Gunston Day School with their volunteer energy. We were so grateful for their help and support.”

III. The Road Forward: The Gunston School Gunston Day School soon settled into new routines as a co-educational college preparatory day school, but the cultural transition continued for many years. During the tenure of Headmaster Jeff Woodworth, a number of facilities upgrades took place. The “Brick House” and the Academic Building received aesthetic improvements in addition to new lighting throughout. The internet began to expand to the Eastern Shore, albeit dial up, and the school began to move into 20th century technology. Middleton Building was completely renovated and became the new home to the school’s administrative offices. Also during Mr. Woodworth’s tenure, David Henry became the Director of Admission and a redesign of the school’s admission and enrollment management processes began. During Jeff’s tenure the school attained an enrollment of 150 students and both golf and crew were added as interscholastic sports. Current Head of School John Lewis arrived in 2010, the year of the school’s centennial. “I was fortunate to arrive at Gunston’s 100-year mark,” he shared, “because I was able to meet and hear the stories of dozens of boarding school alums in my first few months on the job.” Lewis continued, “What the boarding students say about the school—the relationships, the campus, the teachers, the friendships—the day school students and teachers say the same things. I quickly realized that the cultural DNA of the Gunston School for Girls was still very much alive at Gunston Day School. So at the end of the year, I asked the Board of Trustees if we might consider removing the word ‘Day’ from our school name—since so many of our boarding alums despised that single word—and simply reincorporate ourselves as The Gunston School. They agreed, and when we announced this change at the retirement party of Tony and Sarah Everdell, many of our former boarding alums wept. The word ‘Gunston’ is what ties us together across the generations, and I expect the current school name will last as long as the school does.”

As the school reaches the 25th anniversary of the day school era, there is broad consensus that the transition has been successful—Gunston continues to thrive, enrollment has grown five-fold, and the school’s strong community culture still endures. The school now draws students from six counties in Maryland and two in Delaware, as well as internationally from Asia, Latin America, and Europe. New traditions like Embarkation, Junior/Senior Day, and Disembarkation are firmly rooted in the school’s cultural calendar. One final hurdle in the school’s multi-decade transition remains: the school’s facilities. “About 30% of our campus still feels like it’s built for fewer than 100 girls,” noted Mr. Lewis, “and our board’s recentlyapproved Master Facilities Plan seeks to equip our campus for approximately 250 co-ed day school students. Our campus property is a treasure, and if we can get our buildings aligned with the land and the enrollment, we will have one of the most unique campuses in the country.” Lewis continued, “I was once told that Gunston is the only school in the United States that successfully pulled off the switch from all-girls boarding school to co-ed day school. I haven’t been able to confirm that we were the ONLY school to do so, but it’s clear that what the school achieved was very, very rare.” Mr. Mark Freestate, Board Member emeritus who has been involved with Gunston for decades concludes, “It’s hard to imagine now, but Gunston was inches away from closure in the 1990’s. Every time I drive down Gunston Road, I wince when I think about those painful days, but then I pull into campus and see how the school is thriving. The school was kept alive thanks to the students, the faculty, Peter, and some key donors who stepped up, and we also managed to keep the school’s spirit and culture alive—that’s what is most satisfying to me.”

The Study of Climate Science: A graduation requirement that just might save the world one day. by wendy mitman clarke, P ’15 ’16

Officially integrated into the curriculum in 1994, environmental programming at Gunston continues to outpace and exceed national standards almost three decades later with its immersive and hands-on learning experiences.

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ew things are as restless as a small herd of high school seniors let loose just weeks before graduation. Even a cool, drizzly May morning under a cloud-smudged sky can’t change that reality, as a group of about a dozen students mill about on rented bicycles and fiddle with helmets. Ronnie Vesnaver, an environmental humanities teacher, rounds them up and calls their attention to where they are about to spend the day exploring on bicycles and in kayaks, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland. She touches briefly on the topics they will consider today beneath the wide-open sky in this storied place just an hour south of Gunston’s campus: the Native peoples who once lived here; European first contact and subsequent colonial settlement in and around Blackwater; the role of the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman, who knew these marshes intimately; sea level rise, erosion, marsh loss, ghost forests, and the effects of climate change; birds, bees, and the interconnection of species and the roles they play in the life and ecosystem of the marsh. In short, it’s a holistic study of a singularly historic and vulnerable place that serves as a microcosm of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and, by extension, the larger world. And weaving throughout every aspect of this study is an understanding of the role of climate science in wrestling what Gunston’s Head of School John Lewis has called “one of the central challenges we are facing as a species.” If this seems like a lot to pile into one day of kayaking and bicycling around a 30,000-acre marsh, consider that these are not new topics for them. Every year, for all of their years at Gunston, students participate in a mandatory Bay Studies program each May, a week-long program of full immersion into their home, the Chesapeake Bay.

Along with a year-round curriculum that emphasizes the study of climate science across disciplines, this senior-year Bay Studies week is the culmination of an extended, fouryear examination into the study of its relationship to the cultural history, environment, and ecology of the Bay.

“For students in the 21st century, learning the skills of preserving and stewarding the natural environment is essential, and Gunston believes that we have an educational and moral responsibility to teach students how to live in a sustainable manner,” Lewis wrote in 2014 on the 20th anniversary of Bay Studies, “the cornerstone of Gunston’s environmental program.” It’s worth noting the date— 1994 —when Bay Studies began. In 1994, climate science was barely becoming a household term. Only two years earlier, the United Nations had developed a framework for governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; it was formalized in 1997 as the Kyoto Protocol. (continued on the next page)

(Left) Gunston seniors during last spring’s Bay Studies trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland. (Row 1, from left) Kayla Flood, Marion Riddle, Lydia Periconi, Reagan Gessford. (Row 2) Ranger Hightower, Henry Sheets, Kylee Rushton. (Row 3) Christian Walker, Jack Pigman, James Fordi, and former Athletic Director Jon Mellinger on the right. (Right) Ronnie Vesnaver, (pictured center) is an environmental humanities teacher who leads both Bay Studies and Chesapeake Watershed Semester expeditions.

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In 2011, the State of Maryland was lauded for being the first in the nation to impose an environmental literacy requirement for students graduating public high school. Fully 14 years earlier, Gunston began Bay Studies to provide cross-curricular, hands-on, immersive education in precisely that, and more. Gunston is also believed to be one of the only schools (if not the only one) in the nation to require the study of climate science and this extensive level of environmental programming in order to graduate.

“While Bay Studies wasn’t formally introduced as a stand-alone program at Gunston until 1994, environmental literacy and a focus on the Chesapeake Bay watershed was something already present throughout the curriculum.” - assistant head of school christie grabis, now in her 37 th year An assignment entitled “Life on the Water,” carefully preserved in Gunston’s archives chronicles the three-day expedition a group of students took in 1987. Students spent a day oystering on Eastern Bay with captain Dick LeBrie, followed by a trip to Smith Island and Crisfield, and ending with a trip to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md. 28

(Above) Miss Beasley’s brother, Mrs. Goldstein, Shannon Davis, Laura Moeler, Sue Placido, Donna Wolff, Megan Dorrity. (Class of 1987) Photo by Miss Beasley. The final journal entry from a three-day expedition entitled “Life on the Water,” circa 1987 reads: “Overall, our brief exposure to ‘Life on the Water’ has left us with an appreciation for the beauty but vulnerability of the Chesapeake Bay.” Illustration and map by Sue Placido ’87. GUNSTON ARCHIVES Color illustrations (boat and fish) by Nathan Porter ’23. Connie Ewing ’94 and Melissa Eakle ’94 at Janes Island State Park, Md. GUNSTON ARCHIVES

Over the years, Bay Studies has provided students multiple lenses through which to examine the Chesapeake’s environment and the ways in which human history and culture intertwines with it. These have included workshops in photography, birding, environmental cinematography, environmental engineering, water chemistry, and nature writing, and experiences like whitewater rafting on the Potomac River, hiking, and even journeys to the Amazon rainforest in Peru, where students conducted comparative studies on environmental issues and indigenous people. The program has added numerous courses that focus on the role that climate science plays through each of these lenses. Throughout, the concept that hands-on immersion leads to a deeper connection to and understanding of the Chesapeake as a comprehensive, complex entity has remained unchanged. But looking across the marshes of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge today, or for that matter, the waterfront that fringes Gunston’s campus on the Corsica River, launching Bay Studies in 1994 seems profoundly prescient. So-called nuisance tides now routinely flood the parking lot of nearby Centreville wharf, where these students embarked on their Gunston experience four years ago as they traveled by boat to the campus. Sea level in Maryland is predicted to rise as much as 2.1 feet by 2050. Fox Island off Pocomoke Sound—where Gunston students lived and learned with Chesapeake Bay Foundation educators as part of Bay Studies in years past—is succumbing so quickly that CBF in 2019 closed its education center there after 40 years. “Blackwater has lost five thousand acres of marsh since the 1930s,” Vesnaver tells the students, as they stand on an observation platform and gaze across miles of marsh pocked with hummocks and spindly loblolly pines. In addition to the effects of subsidence and sea level rise, “what humans do is create hard structures that back up against the marsh, so the marsh can’t move. It gets flooded because it’s trapped between the impervious surfaces we create and encroaching water.”

(Right, from top) Zach Mozher ’23 & Damian René ’23 created solar glow jars during an environmental engineering workshop for Bay Studies ’21. Students Lila Ingersoll ’18, Henry Parkhurst ’18, Heidi Barcus and Helen Boone ’21 pick fresh produce during a Farm-to-Table Bay Studies Unit (in 2016) at Masons Heritage Farms (owned by a Gunston Alumna, check out the story on page 42), examining the food chain and its effect on the environment. Bay Studies group in a canopy walkway at sunset in Peru (2015). During Bay Studies in 2019, students visited Fox Island off Pocomoke Sound, which later closed for good after 40 years due to sea level rise.

feature Yet amid the discussions of sea level rise and invasive species, Vesnaver notes stories of success here as well, including the eradication of invasive nutria, and the restoration of raptors like osprey and bald eagles, who were nearly extirpated in the 1970s due to the widespread use of DDT. (Later in the day, the students would paddle Blackwater River and float nearly beneath a bald eagle perched beside its massive nest, while adult ospreys hunted overhead and fledglings tested their young wings nearby.) While humans can disrupt the ecosystem, Vesnaver points out, scientific study of the effects of that disruption, and a social commitment to solving the problems they create are equally powerful. As is simply getting to know a place and learning to appreciate it. “I feel like it was very constant throughout my four years,” says Helen Boone ’21, who went on to study biology and is a part of the Climate Scholars Program at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. “I had a lot of classes where we went down to the water to do experiments.[...] it’s very hands-on, and that’s something I’ve always liked about Gunston’s program, that connection to the Bay.” During her freshman year of Bay Studies, Boone spent five days aboard Echo Hill Outdoor School’s historic skipjack Ellsworth and buyboat Annie D, sleeping under the stars on the Chester River, watching local watermen working pound nets and talking with them about their catch, dragging a seine net and studying what it gathered, catching crabs and perch for dinner, listening to music and poetry while the sun set. The experience was so profound that she used the journal she kept during the week as the basis for her senior paradigm, a reflection of her four years of growth at Gunston.

“This whole trip has been a window into another culture right under my nose that I didn’t even know about.” - helen boone ’21 bay studies journal entry from senior year 30 30

“Something that I feel like I’m really lucky to have is such an in-depth understanding of the Chesapeake Bay and climate issues here, because now I get to go to an entirely different environment that is also at high risk in terms of climate change and see how the two connect, see what strategies are the same, what strategies could be transferred between the two places,” she says. Partnering with organizations like Echo Hill Outdoor School, Sultana Education Foundation, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has also been a consistent aspect of Bay Studies. This year, students kayaked with the Sultana Education Foundation at Wye Island Natural Resources Management Area and Jackson Creek on nearby Kent Island, two entirely different waterfronts within just a few miles of one another. Along with the pure fun of paddling, the students took in the pristine, tree-lined banks of Wye Island and compared them with the highly developed Jackson Creek. While Bay Studies brings students hand-in-hand with the Chesapeake for a week each year over their four years, perhaps its ultimate expression is in the Chesapeake Watershed Semester, which launched its first semester in 2018. This semester-long program combines 10 weeks of on-campus classroom work with five weeks of off-campus field studies. Expeditions include kayaking on the John Smith Waterways Trail, studying restoration ecology and climate science with CBF on Tangier Island, investigating land use and energy in the Pennsylvania portion of the watershed, and studying public policy and government as it relates to the environment in Washington, D.C., and Annapolis.

“I can certainly say that the Chesapeake Watershed Semester was unlike anything I have done before,” says Henry Shifrin ’21, who is currently attending Northeastern University. Visiting a small, watermen-based community like Smith Island, Maryland, or Wachapreague, Virginia, and learning about the environmental and economic challenges “is a really great microcosm of what we see throughout the world. It really taught us how to go into those communities and figure out what issues they’re facing, and how we might be able to improve that.” It was a big jump for Shifrin, who admits he was “an indoorsy kid, very happy in my bedroom,” before coming to Gunston.“To have my classroom physically be outside in the day was fantastic because it’s the first time that I had really had a deeper connection to nature than just going for a walk in my neighborhood, and to learn about the environment in which I’m living before I leave for college is really important to me.” Between the Chesapeake Watershed Semester and Bay Studies, he says, “I’ve camped out on Smith Island. I spent a lot of time going up and down the Shore. We went all the way over to D.C., one time to go explore the AfricanAmerican Museum [of History and Culture]. We’ve covered the whole watershed, and it’s been amazing.”

“Climate science and global awareness is something that’s really important, especially in the 21st century. And as we think about moving forward as global citizens, this is an issue that’s going to be affecting us for the rest of our lives. To have a deep connection to nature at a young age is something that I think you can’t really put a value on.” - henry shifrin ’21 UP NEXT: Read about the return of the Chesapeake Watershed Semester this past fall. (Below, from left) Avy Aubin ’21 and Helen Boone ’21 during Bay Studies as seniors. Helen at the helm of the skipjack Ellsworth during her freshman year. (Chesapeake Watershed Semester F’19) Sydney Nittle ’21 and Henry Shifrin ’21 examine samples under a microscope at the VIMS Eastern Shore Lab. The CWS F’19 group outside a hydroelectric turbine in the Conowingo Dam: Jackson Talbott, Cedar Foster, Phebe Wood, Henry Shifrin, Rion McCluskey, Cotter Buckley, Kayla Flood, Regan Gessford. (Back row) Sydney Nittle, James Fordi, Olivia Hershey, Carter Janney, and Aidan Myers. Henry capturing the image of the clear waters of a Pennsylvania stream near Lancaster. Henry kayaking on the Rivanna River, Shadwell, Va. (Background image) An aerial shot of students on the confluence of Jackson Creek and Chester River during Bay Studies.

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feature

A DEEP DIVE : Chesapeake Watershed Semester Returns by emily beck

stablished in 2015, the Chesapeake Watershed Semester at Gunston is a single-semester, place-based academic program for high school juniors and seniors. The 15-week experience takes students across the Chesapeake Bay watershed to complete real-world research, discover solutions to environmental problems, and network with national leaders. Their interactions with lawmakers, scientists, farmers, and fishermen give them a 360-degree understanding of emerging issues in a changing world. Students leave the Chesapeake Watershed Semester with a better understanding of their role in society, their place in the environment, and the path forward in their education and careers.

CWS returned to the field in the fall of 2021, fully enrolled, with two new faculty members. Working with Director Emily Beck, Zack Hoisington and Ronnie Vesnaver refreshed and updated the expeditions to comply with health and safety protocols. This fall’s expeditions included trips to Cooperstown, N.Y. to stand at the headwaters of the Susquehanna, to Wachapreague, Va. to work in the marine laboratory of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, to Frostburg, Md. to work with Trout Unlimited in headwaters conservation, and to Tangier Island, Va. to study the impacts of sea level rise in the climate science unit. Over the course of the 15-week semester, we also hosted a dozen guest speakers over Zoom or on campus and traveled locally to kayak and learn about stormwater projects. They say a picture is worth a thousand words; to see the program in action, please visit our website (scan the code to the right)!

We have big dreams and a bold vision for the Watershed Semester to become a residential semester school for 40 students, fall and spring, operating on a conserved waterfront estate or working farm. CWS is a success and continues to generate high demand within the Gunston community and has been a positive driver of interest in the school for prospective families. The program is powerful, impactful, and transformative for students. CWS is accepting applications from students currently in 10th and 11th grades for the coming school year. Students need not be previously enrolled in Gunston to attend. Expanding CWS beyond Gunston students has enriched the learning experience for all students by offering a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds. CWS is committed to supporting access and equity within its admissions process and is actively seeking philanthropic support to offer scholarships and increased financial aid awards. Our vision for our community is a diverse mix of urban and rural students with representation across the watershed and beyond.

(Top) Evie Hagan ’22, Julia Buchanan ’23, Charlotte Cook ’22, Calla McCluskey ’23, Alec Sanderson ’22, Colin Denault CWSF ’22, Thomas Umidi ’22, and Robert Crow ’22. (Middle, l-r) Julia Buchanan and Charlotte Cook. Robert Crow, Tom de los Reyes ’23, Ian Kissel ’23, Nathan Porter ’23, Colin Denault, Liam Thomas ’23, Thomas Umidi, Calla McCluskey, Charlotte Cook, Julia Buchanan, Alec Sanderson, Evie Hagan. (Bottom, l-r) Alec Sanderson, Nathan Porter, Zack Hoisington. Nathan Porter.

MEET A CWS FAMILY: The Hagans of Chestertown, Md. There are few periods in a person’s life more iconic than senior year of high school. Perhaps you’ve become a starter on the soccer field, climbed to the top of the social heap, or found a subject you are passionate about. Weave this together with the college search and application process, and senior year can take on a larger than life persona. Fall of senior year is inherently busy as students polish up college applications, consider another round of standardized testing, and maintain their academic standing. Time and again we hear from students applying to college that CWS and its experiences offer them talking points when speaking with college recruiters and creates a unique narrative in essays. This fall, CWS welcomed more seniors than juniors into the program, driven by deferred admissions due to COVID, and we wanted to sit down with some of our seniors to understand what motivated them to attend CWS during such an iconic time. The Hagans moved to Chestertown the summer before Evie started at Gunston as a 9th grader. A detour through the Eastern Shore spurred the family into talking about moving from Florida to the region and a search began for a high school for Evie to attend. “We didn’t know what we wanted (in a high school) until we found it… at Gunston,” her mother Diane, shared. “The environmental programming was a strong draw and CWS was the icing on the cake.” On an early CWS assignment, Evie reflected, “All throughout my life I have heavily relied on nature in many ways. For example, when I moved a thousand miles away from everything I had ever known at 15, I spent all my free time trying to acquaint myself with the Chester River and my new stomping grounds. The nature of the Eastern Shore was so foreign to me and I found that I could ground myself by taking as much of it in as possible. Because of this, what could have been a tumultuous time in my life turned out to be a time of self discovery.” Evie had planned to enroll in CWS in the fall of 2020 when she was a junior but instead found herself attending as a senior. Diane, reflected that “CWS was a beautiful culmination of her Gunston experience.”

“Evelyn’s experiences throughout this semester continue to be unforgettable in the best of ways! Her sense of self and place in the world has expanded, and she now has so many ideas about the kind of work she wants to do. She’s so impressed with everyone she’s encountered during this journey. We couldn’t be more pleased or grateful for the empowerment that she’s gained. Thank you to all of you for being so very good at what you do!”

“(CWS) won’t take you off the college preparatory trajectory, it will enrich the journey. It’s fun, so much good fun. In the fall of senior year, the stress and pressure of college applications is intense, there’s no joy in a Type A senior fall, to see the joy and peace return to our student’s life was so rewarding.” - the hagans

class notes

(Left) The last all-girls graduating class of 1996: “From September 1949 through June 1996, The Gunston School was a place of education for young women. This plaque commemorates those years.” (Above) From the archives (Yearbook, circa 2000) “We’ve arrived. The Class of 2000 is the first graduating class of Gunston Day School. And GDS has evolved from a long tradition of compassionate education. We are, if anything, a people place, founded on the ideals of family and a notion of history which promises that good stories have no end. We dedicate this yearbook to those who came before us, so that we could arrive.”

STAY IN TOUCH! Here’s how: Planning a reunion? Let us help! If you’re a member of the class of ’72, ’75, ’02 or ’03, please reach out to Advancement to keep us in the loop! Email advancement@gunston.org

1) Follow us on social media @gunstonschool Groups: @gunstonschoolalumni Gunston School for Girls Alumni

@gunstonschool @gunstonathletics @TheGunstonSchool linkedin.com/school/gunston-school

2) Sign up for the Alumni eNewsletter (Beyond Gunston Road) or submit an update by visiting gunston.org/connect or email mthomas@gunston.org.

3) Visit us We love visitors! Drop us a line and let us know when you’re coming by.

4) Come to a special event Bull Roast, Heron Hustle or Golfing fore Gunston! 35

class notes

Alexia �eck �ivings ’44 Believed to be the school’s oldest living alumna, this is her story of boarding school days at the end of Gunston Road. by Susie Fordi ’18

During her time at Gunston, Alexia (Lexie) Beck Bivings ’44 awoke very early in the morning to care for the polo pony her mother had leased for her, cleaning the stall and feeding the horse before heading back to the “Little House.” As she was one of the first people awake, she was assigned breakfast duty and would often rouse her housemates — four other students and two teachers — with the sizzle of bacon or scrapple on the stove before the busy day began. The Little House would later become the Head of School’s personal residence. Born in England and raised in France and Spain, Lexie attended other boarding schools besides Gunston throughout her life. “My parents were older than most parents, and they liked to travel. We traveled a great deal, and as a consequence sometimes I went to school in Spain, sometimes in France, sometimes in Italy and then later in the United States,” Lexie said. She loved them all. When Lexie was about six years old, she attended a boarding school in Gibraltar while her father battled tuberculosis and temporarily moved into a sanitarium, a medical facility for long-term illness (before antibiotics). Upon arriving in the United States, the education system was completely foreign to anything Lexie had experienced previously. Once her mother realized Long Island public schools were going to be too difficult for her daughter to acclimate to, a friend recommended Gunston. The school’s founder and Headmistress, Mary Middleton, met Lexie and her mother in New York and convinced them that she should attend.

(Left) Alexia Beck Bivings ’44 in front of Middleton House, which used to be called “The Big House.” (Inset) Pamela Terry (left) and Alexia Bivings (right), in front of “The Big House” in 1943.

When she was 15, Lexie became friends with Middleton’s son, who ran a boys’ summer camp on Gunston’s campus. She took the train down from New York to work at the camp, and fell in love with the area.

“It was small, it was nurturing, and the teachers and students there didn’t look upon me as a freak as I didn’t speak English perfectly,” Lexie said. “They accepted me.” There were only seven girls in Lexie’s graduating class and about ten students who attended as day students, however she does not remember them as well as the boarding students. There were only three teachers, plus “Aunt Mary,” as the Headmistress was known, who taught geography. The “Big House” (now known as Middleton) was where the rest of the students lived, as well as where lunch and dinner were served. Besides the two buildings — the Little House and the Big House — there were no other structures on the campus at that time. Lexie made friends with an English girl named Prudence, who was one of many children sent to the United States from England during World War II to escape the danger and bombings. Prudence did not come to Gunston until after the start of the school year, but she and Lexie became fast friends and connected because of their language differences and connections to Europe. “I spoke broken English, and she spoke the King’s English, and we had a common bond,” recalls Lexie. “It’s very complicated what I consider myself. My papers say that I am an American citizen, because I am.” She continued, “No one knew exactly what I was and of course I didn’t either.” According to Lexie, Gunston had the same “family-like feel” in 1944 as it does today, although the courses offered and what students were allowed to do for fun were quite different 75 years ago. 37

class notes “I certainly did know how to ride, so I sort of fit in that way. It was just a lovely experience for me,” she recalls. In addition to riding, the other athletic programs offered at Gunston during this time period were sailing and tennis. Religion was taught by the minister whose church the students attended on Sundays in Centreville. Lexie does not consider herself to be religious, yet has always had a fascination with the subject, having read a lot about it. “Attending church and being together in prayer had more to do with a lack of family,” she said, and the creation of comfort, than it did with religion. She recalls the packing list that Aunt Mary would send out, detailing the items to bring which included “pajamas, soap, and blue jeans” for riding the horses. Neither Lexie nor her mother knew what “blue jeans” were at the time, so Lexie purchased her first pair at the general store in Centreville.

Pamela Terry (left) and Alexia Bivings (right) in what was known then as the “cottage or little house,” circa 1943.

Students learned to sew and knit, rode their horses at least three times per week, sailed on the nice days, and swam in the Corsica river when it was warm enough. They’d also attended “tea dances” in Annapolis, dressing up and taking a ferry across the Chesapeake Bay, which did not have a bridge crossing its waters until 1952.

Lexie graduated from Gunston and went on to become a registered Nurse after graduating from Columbia Presbyterian School of Nursing, working at various hospitals and eventually as a nurse at a high school for many years. She married and had two children, Gary and Elizabeth, and has two grandchildren. An active volunteer at the Tucson Audubon Society, a 2012 volunteer article describes her as having “traveled the world (except, regrettably, for Australia), and can recount details of breakfast in Turkey, boating off Denmark, and travels from Russia to Ecuador to, most recently this summer, swimming on the East Coast.”

“In order for us to learn how to dance at Gunston, they imported local boys to come over so we could dance [together].” If there was an “appropriate movie for girls” showing (as Lexie described it) the students would attend the movie theater for fun. One time a classmate’s father, who was in the Navy, took the class on an aircraft carrier vessel for a ride around the Chesapeake Bay. Lexie also recalls at least two trips per year to Washington, D.C., to visit museums and walk around the city and explore. “Compared to New York City, [D.C. at the time] was kind of like a country town,” she recalls, as she describes only the “Castle” (Smithsonian’s main building) and one other museum. Later in life, Lexie has had the opportunity to travel a lot herself and visit all of the schools she attended.

“I was doing yard work one day, and imagine my surprise when a car pulled into the Head’s House driveway, and Lexie Bivings stepped out of the car!” said Head of School John Lewis. “As she told me the stories of living on campus eight decades ago, I felt transported to a different era. Gunston has a remarkable history, and having spent time with her, I don’t look at any part of Gunston’s campus in the same way.” 38

Lexie now lives in Tucson, Arizona, where she has been for 58 years, a wonderful place to live as she can’t tolerate any kind of cold at her age. We hope to see her again on Gunston’s campus soon!

Nina �e Angelo ’20

Works with Maryland Senator on Her Greatest Passion: Genetic Disorders by Susie Fordi ’18

Nina De Angelo ’20 missed more than a fourth of her school days throughout her junior year at due to an “invisible” genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome—a group of inherited disorders that affect your connective tissues, primarily skin, joints and blood vessel walls—that can cause a wide range of issues from overly flexible joints prone to dislocation, ruptured blood vessels, digestion issues, and much more. Thanks to a group of caring friends and teachers, she was able to stay on top of school work, yet this is not how she hoped to experience her high school years. Living with EDS means that spending a few hours at a time without substantial rest is impossible. “This ‘invisible’ medical condition causes me to have chronic pain in all my joints, muscles, and ligaments. I also get bad dizzy spells, migraines, and fatigue from a co-morbid condition called Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS),” explains De Angelo. Last spring, De Angelo applied for the Maryland Senatorial Scholarship offered by Senator Edward R. Reilly (District 33, Anne Arundel County), a Republican member of the senate whose priorities center around education, health, and environmental affairs. When De Angelo was notified that she was ineligible for the scholarship award because her family did not demonstrate sufficient financial need, she sent an email to Senator Reilly thanking him for considering her application. She was delighted when the senator responded with a call and they soon found themselves discussing a topic both were deeply passionate about — genetic disorders. Senator Reilly, the leader of the State Advisory Council on Hereditary and Congenital Disorders, extended an invitation to the entire De Angelo family to come tour the State House and talk more in depth about their shared interests in religion, politics, and advocacy work related to hereditary and congenital disorders. Senator Reilly was especially interested in De Angelo’s personal experience, including how and when she was finally diagnosed and what improvements could be made in the future to help those also suffering from EDS and other genetic disorders.

Nina De Angelo ’20 with Maryland Senator Edward R. Reilly, the leader of the State Advisory Council on Hereditary and Congenital Disorders.

“I went eighteen years without knowing [about the condition], but my parents knew there was something there,” she recalls. De Angelo hopes that an EDS screening will be included for newborn babies in Maryland, and Senator Reilly agreed, with the goal of introducing legislation within the next few years in Maryland. Newborn genetic screening is required by most states, and tests for around 50 genetic disorders with a heel prick for blood. Because of its rarity, this disorder and other uncommon genetic disorders are not currently tested for using the heel prick method.

“A lot of times [a diagnosis] happens at the end when there is no other option for you,” De Angelo said. Once a genetic disorder progresses without proper treatment, it becomes too late to make substantial changes to the quality of life. De Angelo took a gap year before beginning her education at The Catholic School of America in Washington, D.C. As a politics major and aspiring lawyer, this day was somewhat of a dream for De Angelo’s career path. She is currently conducting research to help assemble information in order to introduce the bill, and she may even be asked to testify to help further the cause. She regularly sends Senator Reilly articles about genetic testing in other areas of the country and breakthroughs in the field, as well as information about other states that are working toward this goal effectively. After college and law school, she hopes to become a disability lawyer and fight on the front lines of justice and acknowledgment for genetic disorders. Her time with Senator Reilly has put her foot in the door for this career. A considerate thank-you email can go a long way. 39

DeFino Sisters ’15 & ’18

class notes

Collegiate Athletic Careers Just Happened to be their Favorite Hobby by Susie Fordi ’18

Abbie ’15 and Becky’18 are among the first equestrians at the University of Lynchburg who took the reins and pushed the team forward.

1970 Rebecca Carlson Smith: “After raising our two sons in Cary, N.C., we retired to our lake house near Pinehurst. We enjoyed cruising before Covid hit, and now stay pretty close to home. We’re active in our church and community with occasional trips to the beach and mountains. I would love to know where my former classmates are!”

MEET THE AUTHOR: Do you have a story you want to share? We want to hear it!

Susie Fordi ’18 Freelance Writer

The New School of Journalism ’22 fords408@newschool.edu Follow @susiespapers

At 6 a.m. almost every weekend in the fall and spring, Becky DeFino ’18 and the rest of the Lynchburg College Equestrian team traveled to compete in shows throughout Virginia. They would arrive at the show, draw the name of a provided horse from a hat, and hop on to ride. Becky is following in the footsteps of her older sister Abbie ’15, who was also on the equestrian team during her time at Lynchburg, before graduating in 2020 with a degree in psychology and a minor in disability services. Becky is currently a junior and working toward an undergraduate degree in business with a minor in management and psychology. Becky has ridden in four shows over the last year (some that earned points for Lynchburg, and others that didn’t count toward their conference competition), against schools such as Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, and James Madison University among others. Each member of the team participates and their long day ends around 7 p.m. Riding horses isn’t limited to a season — they ride all year round. On practice days, the equestrians at Lynchburg lift weights, practice riding to condition themselves and the horses, and set up mock shows at the barn, always riding a different horse during practice to prepare for the range of horses that will be present at shows. As someone who spent her time at Gunston playing field sports including field hockey and lacrosse, she always saw riding as something to do for fun outside of school, but college changed that for Becky. “I have a video of me smiling ear to ear on this horse that I had just met,” she said from her experience at a show. Abbie is currently working at horse farms and living in Radford, Va., while completing her dual master’s degrees in both psychology and school psychology at Radford University. In 2015, during her time at Lynchburg, the school expanded their equestrian program, and in 2019, announced they were joining the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) — formerly known as Varsity Equestrian — becoming one of the 24 official member colleges and universities that sponsor women’s equestrian teams that

PHOTO BY CAROLINE GERKE/LYNCHBURGSPORTS.COM.

(Left) Abbie DeFino ’15 and (right) Becky DeFino ’18.

participate in intercollegiate competition as a varsity sport. Even though Lynchburg didn’t join the NCEA until her last year, Abbie feels proud to be a part of the team’s history, as she was one of many equestrians— including Becky — who took the reins and pushed the team forward. Abbie and Becky both credit Gunston for preparing them to be able to balance athletics with school, work, and social lives. “I’ve still kept that multitasking mindset,” Abbie said. “I’ve learned how to manage a bunch of different things and multiple jobs.”

Becky adds, “I have a very, very vigorous schedule, and I’m a student athlete, and I also have an internship off campus. Driving an hour away from home every day [to Gunston], doing homework, and being an athlete there already prepared me.” “I loved being a student athlete. It was just an amazing experience overall,” Abbie said. “Being able to meet people outside of my college and program was great and opened up new experiences for me.” The DeFinos’ team shared a horse barn with Sweet Briar College in Virginia, so they were able to meet even more people in the equestrian world.

The points at shows add up to contribute to the team’s overall score and placement, and individual scoring helps the riders score out of certain practice levels to advance to the next. “Working at a higher level on a more advanced team toward a common goal is like no other feeling in the world,” said Abbie. Becky began riding at age five in Middletown, Del., and Abbie at age seven. Abbie decided she wanted to pursue field sports when she came to Gunston (playing field hockey and lacrosse all four years), so horse riding was a skill she kept in her back pocket for a while. Each of the DeFino sisters had helpful advice for students thinking about continuing their athletics career in college. “Especially in college, doing something that you really love to do is the most important thing ever. If you play a sport that you hate when you’re also away from home, it just doesn’t make your experience fun,” advises Becky. Abbie suggests to always make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into as an athlete in college. “Do your research, think about what you want in the program, and make sure the coach’s and the team’s values line up with your own.”

Equestrian is more of an individual sport, however there are still a lot of team aspects during practice and training. 41

class notes

Kate Mason �raszuski ’01

& Family Donate Produce for

Hurricane Ida Relief by Susie Fordi ’18 Originally planning to be a journalist after high school, Kate instead decided to stick to her roots and went for a degree in agriculture. She has now helped to donate food across the Eastern seaboard. The Mason Farms Produce stand in Ruthsburg, Md. began in 1988 with a few dozen ears of corn and tomatoes, perched on the side of the road with a plywood sign as advertisement. Now, 33 years later, it offers local milk, eggs, cheese, beef, pork, lamb, ice cream, and many more products to numerous to list. In fact, they have so much to offer that they’ve been able to donate thousands of pounds of produce to help those who may not have access to farm fresh items. As the fifth generation at Mason’s Heritage farm, Kate Mason Kraszuski ’01 lives in her grandparents’ house next door to her parents. Mason’s Heritage Farms is a certified organic grain farm, and their produce business, Mason Farms Produce, has helped hundreds of people gain access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Her family began the produce business in 1988 and Kate took over in 2011. 42

Inspired by Mrs. Everdell’s English class at Gunston, Kate decided to major in journalism at Ithaca College. After attending for a few semesters, she realized that she instead wanted to continue her studies in agriculture, and take over the family business. She transferred to Cornell University where she received both an undergraduate degree and a master’s in agricultural economics. After working for the Maryland Department of Agriculture for a few years, Kate moved back to the Eastern Shore to work on Mason’s Heritage Farm full time. She just finished her tenth season as owner and operator of the produce aspect of the farm. In 2013, the farm began hosting “gleanings,” where food bank volunteers come to the farm and help pick the extra produce. As business has grown over the last decade, Kate now offers two gleanings per summer, where everyone picks corn, tomatoes, cantaloupe, and watermelons. In the evenings, between 10-20 volunteers come to pick the extra food after the market closes, and the bank delivers the produce throughout the state to those who need it. “For many of our gleanings, we have a lot of regulars who live in the area who help us out quite frequently. We have one family who comes to almost every single gleaning,” Kate said. (Top, from left) Steve, William, Kate, and Rosa Kraszuski. (Top right) Kate after a gleaning. (Bottom right) Steve and William.

Thankfully, there were many volunteers ready to glean this summer. On August 29th, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, another deadly and catastrophic category 4 hurricane slammed into Louisiana. Similar to Katrina, Hurricane Ida became the second-most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana. The destruction that was caused in the state left tens of thousands without power for weeks. Kate’s husband Steve expressed interest in donating their surplus produce, and they became connected to the Maryland Farm to Food Bank program. All of the donated produce is leftover from what they don’t sell at their retail market, and is still fresh and ready to eat.

1983

Amy Cawley, their connection at the Maryland Food Bank, soon reached out to the Kraszuski’s to ask if they would be willing to donate food to relief for Hurricane Ida. “We said of course! It was the end of the season so we didn’t have as much as we usually would, but we wanted to do whatever we could [to help],” Kate said

Änna Canton Geisler: “I’ve been in business for myself going on 22 years. I have four patents [and am] in the process of developing several more products. I’ve been a graphic designer as well as a product designer for many years. I’ve always been in love with horses and my business caters to the horse industry.” Check out Tuck’mIn® EquestrianBags on EquestrianBag.com.

Cawley connected the Kraszuskis to Convoy of Hope, a non-profit disaster relief organization. Their refrigerated trucks were how this produce — including around 5,000 pounds of corn — traveled from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Louisiana. These trucks contain kitchens where the vegetables were prepared and then served to those who had been displaced due to the hurricane.

Favorite Gunston Memories? “I was very fortunate to be able to bring my horse to school with me all the way from Minnesota. I was also extremely blessed to have Temple Blackwood as my English teacher, assistant headmaster at the time and drama teacher. He’s one of those very, very special people that changed my life.”

“A lot of the people who were volunteering [for this gleaning] were from the Western shore. Some kids from College Park came over to help, from Baltimore City, I mean people that definitely had not gleaned tomatoes before or had been on a farm before for that matter but just wanted to volunteer and help out. It was really great to give them a glimpse into what we do here,” recalls Kate. Gunston alumnus Campbell Parkhurst ’21 worked on Mason’s Heritage farm this past summer, picking and harvesting produce early in the mornings for them to sell at the stand later in the day. Ella MacGlashan ’23 has worked for two summers at the market as well. You can connect to Mason Farm Produce through Facebook and visit their produce stand in the summers in Ruthsburg near Tuckahoe State Park.

2004 Mackenzie Wilson (née Cooker) and husband welcomed their first child Callen James Wilson on November 12, 2021. Mackenzie graduated from Colorado Mountain College with a degree in Information Technology. She is currently employed with Talbot County Public Schools. Mackenzie, Josh, and Callen reside in Easton, where they own a Tile and Stone installation company. 43

class notes

Camy Kelly ’19

Joins Create Learn Inspire (CLI) Dance Conservatory by Susie Fordi ’18

2005 Evan Heisman and wife Morgan welcomed a son, Brixton Joshua, on February 6th, 2021. In January 2022 Evan began a new job as Assistant Director of Communications for Student Affairs at Duke University.

2007 Elizabeth Lohr Vaughan and family, (including big brother Harrison) welcomed Shepard William Vaughan, born on December 10, 2021. Elizabeth and family live in Atlanta, Georgia.

FACULTY Andrew C. Greeley (English teacher from 2002-2007) Andrew, longtime Dogfish Head Craft Brewery co-worker and General Manager of the Dogfish Inn in Lewes, Delaware, recently co-authored his first book, titled The Dogfish Head Book: 26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures, offering readers a chronology of the offbeat escapades that propelled Dogfish Head to exponential growth. Available now on Amazon!

Last June, Camy Kelly ’19 was on a boat with friends when she checked her messages, expecting to see one from her mom and instead saw a notification from Teddy Forance, the renowned dancer and founder of Create, Learn Inspire (CLI) Dance online platform and conservatory located in Easthampton, Mass. The email informed Kelly that a spot had opened up at the CLI Conservatory and they would love to have her join. “I just went dead quiet for the rest of the time I was with my friends, and I was just thinking, do I do this? What do I do?” The school year prior to that summer, Kelly had completed her sophomore year at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pa. She loved dancing there during her freshman year, but the Covid-19 pandemic was very difficult on the arts and it was not the same experience when Kelly returned sophomore year. The class times were cut and freedom to use the studios was changed. “We danced in these taped-out boxes on the floor,” she explained. “It went from being this really big family to feeling super separated from everyone.” Performance opportunities were even more slim than before, and Camy felt she was ‘settling’ for a dance program that no longer made her happy. When she saw an ad by Forance (her dance idol) on Instagram for a program, she applied. The worst they could say was no. Camy locked herself in a studio for six hours and created all of the videos needed for her application. When she was wait-listed a few weeks later, she resumed her plans to go back to Point Park and even signed the lease for an apartment. Then, the email on the boat came. “It was really cool but also really scary because I had a big decision to make,” she recalls. Now at CLI since September, Camy dances for almost 10 hours per day, every Monday through Saturday. Beginning with ballet class at 8:30 a.m., she warms up for a full day of movement while also being on camera. The 38 dancers at CLI are always filmed for social media, so Camy makes sure to look camera-ready at the start of every day. After ballet she moves on to rehearsals for shows and works with the choreographers who come in daily to teach the dancers. One of CLI’s final performances will be an original musical written and choreographed by New York City dancers and writers. “Ever since I got that email, my life has been a dream,” Camy said. Forance has opened

countless doors for the professional dancers in training. So far this fall, three CLI members landed a role in an upcoming movie about Whitney Houston.

“Physically, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Camy said, in addition to being mentally challenging with regard to body image, as she is always looking at herself in a mirror, trying to improve her work. Thankfully, being at CLI feels like one huge family and some of the choreographers even challenge the dancers not to use mirrors while they dance. Camy’s ability to be organized while juggling a myriad of challenges thrown her way is a skill she says she developed at Gunston. The school did not have a dance program, however “they were always supportive of me being a dancer,” she recalls, and taught her how to balance a rigorous and demanding schedule throughout high school. She encourages current students to follow their biggest dreams after high school because now is the time to do it. “At [CLI] I was around all of these new people with so many different opinions and points of view and backstories. It was really cool to go from a small town high school to being in the middle of the city with so many artistic people. Right off the bat I was pushed out of my comfort zone, but if that hadn’t happened I wouldn’t have realized so much about myself.” Camy would tell her younger self to take it day by day, and to appreciate where you are in the now. Her tattoo that says “Here’s to Now,” is her daily reminder of this, which she said she sometimes needs dancing at CLI. “There’s literally no room to wish days away,” Camy said, as she will finish her time at the conservatory in May of 2022. Camy knows college will be there for her when she decides to finish her degree, but getting signed with a dance agency is her top priority right now. Keep up with Camy on her Instagram, and stay tuned to see what her plans are after her performances in May!

2008 & 2010 Laura Kade and Takayuki Fukunaga Laura writes, “I graduated in 2010, but my freshman year I met Takayuki Fukunaga—we actually went on the same Bay Studies trip together (the Sultana). Taka was with the class of 2008, but attended Gunston as an exchange student from Japan from 2006-2007. After Gunston I went to school in Dallas and I have since made it my home. This year Taka began working in Dallas as well and we were able to catch up through LinkedIn first and then in-person. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about 15 years ago, Gunston, and Bay Studies trips. It’s amazing how small the world is, a Gunston Alum is always near by!”

2011 Natalie Clemens Laney and her husband David welcomed their first child, Leif Oliver Laney on November 27, 2021. Mr. Clemens is a very proud grandpa!

PHOTO CREDIT: GEO SANTILLAN

(From left) Diane Marshall ’75 traveled all the way from Alaska for the Bull & Oyster Roast this past fall. We love the month of January because it means our recent alumni are home from college and can come visit! Wei (William) Jiang ’16, Tyler Urquhart ’16 and Katelyn Larrimore ’16. Owen White ’20, Mr. Lewis, and Izzy Santoboni ’20.

2014

IN MEMORY OF

Heteng (Henry) Xu: After graduating from Miami University of Oxford with a degree in Interactive Media Study & Arts Management, Heteng headed back to China and now works for Bytedance (TikTok), where his position is focused on user growth for gaming products. “It is a pretty nice job. I appreciate its corporate culture,” said Heteng. “When we talk about the U.S. I always share my life [at] Gunston with my friends—it [was] wonderful!”

ALUMNI

Favorite Gunston memory? “Green and White Day, how we raced with each other, we had lots of fun, it [felt] just like the Harry Potter 4 [movie] to me.”

2016 Wei (William) Jiang: “After I left Gunston, I studied game design at Maryville University and learned programming by myself. While I’m self-learning programming, I think that data science might help me in the future. So I’m applying for the data science graduate program. I’m currently interning in a transportation company doing marketing and design. Eventually, I want to get into the game industry and get another master’s degree in game design at a top university.” Tyler Urquhart stopped by to visit in January. He’s studying abroad this semester, attending the University of Maryland. Katelyn Larrimore graduated from Washington College and is now teaching Humanities at Gunston! See page 13. 46

Eleanor B. Noble ’49 of Chestertown, Md. passed away on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at the age of 89. Born on December 10, 1931, in Baltimore, she was the daughter of the late Burleigh Clayton and Eleanor Burwell Hepburn Fooks. She grew up on State Circle in Annapolis, Md. In 1949 she graduated from the Gunston School and then attended University of Maryland. On June 28, 1950, she married Thomas Iglehart Noble of Annapolis. During her husband’s military career, Mrs. Noble traveled and raised her family through 16 locations including 22 towns. Following his retirement, they lived in Annapolis until 1996 when they moved to Chestertown. She had worked as a hospital volunteer for many years. Ellie was interviewed by the The National Home Front Project at Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience about her recollections of WWII Annapolis. Take a listen by scanning the code above or visit nationalhomefrontproject.org. Mary Hill Noble Caperton ’59, of Charlottesville, Va, passed away on Thursday, December 23, 2021 at the age of 89. Mary Hill was born on August 23, 1932, in Annapolis, Md, to the late R. Adm. Kenneth Hill Noble and Anna Hanson Iglehart Noble. Her family and father were stationed at Pearl Harbor, and survived the attack in 1941. She graduated from The Gunston School in 1959 and from Sweetbriar College in 1954. After having moved to Charlottesville for good in 1965, she worked in the Biology Department at UVA, worked for years at the SPCA, and owned and operated Guesthouses BnB. Mary Hill loved her friends, and was a loyal friend to so many.

(From left) Sutter Phillips ’17 at the Bull & Oyster Roast. Mr. Lewis and Tanner Ways ’18. Mason Rudolfs ’20 (VMI Class of 2024) & Henry Sheets ’21 (VMI Class of 2025) ran into each other at the Virginia Military Institute just as the fall semester was kicking off. Rudolfs is a psychology major and Sheets is a mechanical engineering major.

Nathaniel Newlin Heal “Nate” ’02 was an honors student at Worton Elementary, Galena Middle, and Gunston Day Schools. He was a huge Ravens fan, lived for March Madness, and was a gifted athlete, concentrating on soccer and basketball, both of which he continued playing competitively into adulthood. He was an economics major at Franklin & Marshall College, subsequently devoting over 16 years to Angelo’s Soccer Corner, where he advanced his career from part time store clerk to the number one sales associate. Nate was kind and fiercely loyal. He will be greatly missed by fiancé Eddie Boornazian, of Lancaster, Pa. FACULTY (1980-2002) Kathleen Ann Atack Garson passed away on January 12, 2022 at age 75. Born on February 17, 1946 in Dallas, Tx., she was the daughter of the late Clarence and Nora Kenny Atack. She married the late Robert Joseph Garson in 1970. A graduate of East Carolina University, Mrs. Garson taught high school English in Queen Anne’s and Kent counties in Maryland, as well as at Caesar Rodney High School in Delaware. She worked as a tutor and publications coordinator at Gunston school for 23 years. She also worked for Kent Hospice Foundation and Upper Shore Aging, Inc. “Kathleen worked as a tutor during the boarding and day school years. She worked closely with the Learning Center Director and her dear friend, Mrs. Kathleen White. As we transitioned to Gunston Day School, she became the director of communications and worked on all of our materials internal and external. She was a great colleague and deeply talented,” said Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis.

FRIEND Excerpted from the Baltimore Sun

Carter M. Bond, a former private school athletic instructor and homemaker, died of complications from a stroke Jan. 22 at Sinai Hospital. The former longtime Stevenson resident was 91. The former Catherine Carter Middleton — she never used her first name and was known as Carter — was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of S. Atherton Middleton, lacrosse coach at the University of Pennsylvania and later headmaster of St. Paul’s School for Boys, and his wife, Catherine Redwood Middleton, a homemaker who helped her husband operate Camp Gunston in Centreville. “As a member of the Middleton family, Carter spent many years on and around the Gunston campus during her formative years, and her love for the school was real. She was one of the first people I met in 2010 when I started as Head of School, and she shared many happy Gunston memories with me. She was a warm-hearted and generous woman, and we will miss her,” said Head of School John Lewis. After graduating in 1948 from Garrison Forest School and Strayer’s Business College, where she studied business, she worked for Household Finance Corp. From 1966 to 1973, she was an athletic instructor in the St. Paul’s School for Boys Lower School. In 1952, she married Joseph Sedwick Sollers, Jr. Two years later after her husband died in 1995, Mrs. Bond married Thomas Talbott Bond, and the couple traveled extensively until his death in 2011. Mrs. Bond enjoyed horseback riding, tennis, swimming, gardening and painting. She was a longtime communicant of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Ruxton. In addition to her son of Luthervillle, she is survived by her five grandchildren.

Did you find a mistake or typo? Did we miss something? Let us know so we can fix it! Email the editor at mthomas@gunston.org 47

HERON

advancement Highlights In the last fiscal year (July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021), as the pandemic wreaked havoc on educational institutions all over the world, the generosity of our wonderful supporters allowed Gunston to keep our doors open and students and faculty safe. We thank you for your support and dedication!

Total Raised: $450,746 $258,250 $103,856 $88,639

Un-Designated Designated Special Events

Here’s a sample of what your generosity makes possible! UN-DESIGNATED GIFTS to the Heron Fund support the school’s operating budget, allowing us to offer students and faculty opportunities beyond what a tuition fee would typically pay for such as leadership conferences, robotic competitions, and the ability to establish and maintain treasured traditions such as:

Green & White Days Embarkation Disembarkation + MORE! DESIGNATED GIFTS can be spent only for a specific purpose, such as purchases including things such as scholarships, capital projects, PPE & COVID mitigation supplies, on-the-water programs, and more.

ANNUAL FUND Volleyball System

13 MacBooks 10 Apple Pencils 10 iPads

Solar Powered AC Unit

Small Boat for Environmental Programs Industrial Fans for Field House

New Soccer Goal

III

advancement The following istings are based on annual giving during The Gunston School’s Fiscal Year, (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021). We do our best to make sure our records are accurate. If you believe there has been an error, please contact Jen Matthews at jmatthews@gunston.org.

The Mary Middleton Society ($10,000+)

The Reynolds-Cristiano Fund, Mid Shore Community Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. Duffey III ’54 The Fordi Family The Gladwood Foundation Mrs. Cindi Latimer ’81 In Memory of: Mr. Paul Long, Mr. and Mrs. Kling In Honor of: Ms. Anita Gruss

Mary Byrd Wyman Memorial Association The Salmon Foundation, Inc. Thomas H. and Barbara W. Gale Foundation

The Eastern Shore Club ($5,000-$9,999)

Mr. and Mrs. David P. Adams Mr. and Mrs. James A. Clauson Foundation for Tomorrow (Wagner/Requena) Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Frederick Mr. and Mrs. Todd S. Gillespie Louis Foundation/Penelope Hatten Mr. and Mrs. Jack Meyerhoff Mid Shore Community Foundation, Inc Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Shoemaker In Honor of: Patrick Shoemaker ’03

Mrs. Janyce Speier In Honor of: Mitch Fry, Jr.

Judith Willock

The 1911 Council ($1,000-$4,999)

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Algier Dr. and Mrs. Michael A. Amygdalos Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Anderson Anonymous Ashley Insurance Astech Security Avon-Dixon Insurance Ms. Ellen I. Bates Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Batza Jr. Mr. David C. Bramble Callahan’s Gas and Appliance, Inc Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation Mr. and Mrs. John Caron

Ms. Stephanie Ceruolo Dr. Landy Cook and Mrs. Megan Cook Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Corbi Datalink Interactive, Inc. Dr. and Mrs. Fernando De Leon Mr. N. Ben Dize and Rev. Karen Dize Dogwood Acres Mr. and Mrs. Preston Everdell Friel Foundation Mr. and Mrs. James E. Gillespie Gillespie & Son Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Alan R. Griffith Dr. and Mrs. Jacob Hanlon Mr. and Mrs. Dean Hatten ’73 Ms. Christina Henderson ’81 Mr. and Mrs. Steven E. Hershey Ms. Mary B. Hoff Intown Companies Mr. and Mrs. JoOseph Janney III JMT Mr. and Mrs. Andrew P. Kellogg KRM Construction Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kunkel Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth M. Law Mr. John A. Lewis and Dr. Laurie Lewis Mr. and Mrs. Christopher D. McClary Mr. Glenn W. Michael Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Moorhouse Ms. Catherine Murphy and Mr. Bryan McGrath Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan L. Myers Northrop Grumman Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Overton Ms. Kathryn B. Parker ’00 Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Parkhurst ’88 Mr. and Mrs. Torrey Pocock Ralph and Elizabeth Riddle Mr. Leo Rocca and Mrs. Christine Rocca ’54 Ms. Alice Ryan ’75 Ms. Casey Santora and Mr. Peter Holland In Honor of: Raymond Santora

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Schmittinger Dr. Brenda Scribner Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Seaman Mr. and Mrs. Brian M. Sherman In Honor of: Olivia ’17 and Elena ’19 Sherman

Mr. and Mrs. James R. Shifrin Mr. Patrick R. Shoemaker ’03

Shore United Bank Mr. and Mrs. John Wagner Mr. and Mrs. J. Richard Ward Mr. and Mrs. Dane P. Ways Wise and Blitzer, Attorneys at Law Dr. and Mrs. Horace Wood Mr. and Mrs. James D. Wright

Headmaster’s Cirle ($500-$999)

360 Automation Technology Mr. and Mrs. James F. Barry Mr. and Mrs. Richard Batdorf In Memory of: Megan Batdorf

Mr. and Mrs. Christian Bent Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Berntsen Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Bonuccelli Mr. and Mrs. John Buzzelli The Country School Mr. Robert Crouch and Dr. Jennifer Crouch In Honor of: Class of 2024

Ms. Michaela L. Curran ’99 Mr. James R. Dickey Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Duvall Mr. and Mrs. John FauntLeRoy Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Fichtner Mr. and Mrs. Mark M. Freestate Ms. Seerojini Friedman The Gibson Family Dr. Mariah Goodall and Mr. Doug Goodall Mr. and Mrs. John B. Hansen Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Hill Mr. and Mrs. William S. Ingersoll IT Tech Direct Mr. and Mrs. James C. Johnson Sr. Mr. and Mrs. C.O. Johnson Mr. Thomas Johnston and Dr. Nina Wagner-Johnston Kent School Mr. and Mrs. Michael K. Kissel In Honor of: Class of 2024

Mr. Joseph Lafferty Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Lang Mrs. Emily R. G. Larkin Mr. David LeCrone and Commander Lynda LeCrone Dr. Frank Lewis Mrs. Paul M. Long, Sr. In Memory of: Paul Long

Mrs. Paul M. Long, Sr.

Golfing Fore Gunston III Monday, May 2, 2022 • 9 a.m.-4ish Prospect Bay Country Club, Grasonville, Md. Join fellow Gunston parents, alumni and community members for another fun-filled day on the links to raise money for the Heron Annual Fund. Upon arrival, club staff will take you and your bags to your assigned cart (ready to go with Gunston swag!). Continental breakfast will be served in the clubhouse before we tee off with a shotgun start at 9am. Snacks and Refreshments will be available throughout the day.

Awards Ceremony with prizes for (Men & Women) First Place, Longest Drive, Closest to the Pin and of course we can’t forget our “Last Place Winners.” Tennis & Lunch Option is available for non-golfers. Grilling & Crush Stations will provide your favorite flavor of crush beverage along with hot burgers and dogs throughout the day. • GENERAL: $175 Individual Golfers/ $675 Foursomes (Men and Women’s Division) REGISTRATION & SPONSORSHIPS:

gunston.org/golf22

• ALUMNI: $165 Individual Golfers/ $650 Foursomes

For questions about the event or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact Lynda Scull 410-758-0620 ext. 1101.

Mr. Brian Marion Mr. Sean Matthews and Mrs. Jennifer A. Matthews ’05 Mr. and Mrs. John Meiklejohn Mr. Justin Nonemaker Mr. and Mrs. Bill Orr In Honor of: Christie Grabis and Anita Gruss

Mr. and Mrs. Bill Orr Mr. and Mrs. Peter G. Pappas Mr. Raymond H. Porter and Dr. Laurie Porter Mr. William B. Price Price and Gannon, Inc Mr. and Mrs. Peter Rich Mr. and Mrs. John Riley Mrs. Allison Rogers Mrs. Sharon W. Rushton In Memory of: Bruce Rushton

Mrs. Margaret T. Schelts

Serino Orthodontics Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Sheets III Mr. George A. Short ’15 Mr. and Mrs. Chris Spurry Mr. Eric Stradley Mrs. Sylvia Strike Mr. Robb Stup Mr. and Mrs. James B. Talbott III Dr. Nick Triandos and Mrs. Dominique Drew Vanguard Charitable Endowment Mr. Christopher Wagner ’04 Whitehall Digital Systems Mrs. Catherine Windsor Mr. and Mrs. Richard R. Winters

Corsia Fellows ($100-$499)

Amazon Smile Mr. Juan P. Angarita and Ms. Liana Anikina Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Baldwin Mr. and Mrs. Eliot Bamford Mr. and Mrs. James H. Barton III Dr. and Mrs. Curtis A. Baughman Jr. The Bay Pediatric Center The Beasley Family Mrs. Emily Beck and Mr. Ben Thacker Mr. and Mrs. Shawn Bell Benson and Mangold Mrs. Carter Middleton Bond Mrs. Susan Boone In Honor of : Charlie Boone

Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Boone Mr. Michael Borland Mr. and Mrs. Robert Borland Mr. and Mrs. J. Donald Braden Mr. and Mrs. Alan S. Bramble Mrs. Meggan Brennan ’91 and Mr. Mark Brennan Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Brock Kimberlin and Helen Nalty Butcher ’88 In Memory of: Taff Hoff Flynn ’88

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Callahan Mr. and Mrs. Pete Cameron Mr. and Mrs. Steven Campbell Mr. and Mrs. Christopher J. Campbell Mr. and Mrs. J. Tyler Campbell Centreville Self Storage Mr. and Mrs. Kevin J. Clair Ms. Jane M. Clauson ’07 Ms. Katherine Conley Mr. and Mrs. Edward A. Curran Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Cusimano Jr. Mrs. Sara Jane Davidson Mr. and Mrs. Peter De Angelo Ms. Isabella S. De Leon ’22 Mr. Tyler Dean Mr. and Mrs. Louis Del Guercio ’48 Ms. Nancy M. Dick In Honor of : Christie Grabis

Ms. Tine K. Dickey The Evans Family Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Faff Ms. Frances B. Firth ’73 Mr. and Mrs. James Fraser Mr. and Mrs. James R. Friel Jr. Mrs. Ursula P. Gardner Ms. Glynis P. Gardner ’21 Ms. Mary C. George ’09 Mr. and Mrs. Bill Gessford Mr. and Mrs. Jody R. Gessford Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Grabis Mr. and Mrs. Brian Grace Mr. Kurt Gray and Ms. Tegist Worku Mrs. Mary Grothe ’63 Ms. Babette Gwynn ’77 Mr. and Mrs. Lucjan Haber Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Hagan Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Hallmark Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Hammond Mr. and Mrs. Herman Harrison Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Hawkins In Honor of: Andrew Baughman ’22 and Quinn Baughman ’24

Dr. and Mrs. Ross I. Heisman Mr. and Mrs. David Henry Mr. and Mrs. Tim Hesford Mr. and Mrs. David Hightower In Honor of: Ranger Hightower ’21

Mr. John F. Holland and Ms. Mary Ann Wolf In Honor of: Gunston Staff

Mr. and Mrs. Geoff Holmes

Mr. and Mrs. Christopher I. Holmes Ms. Grace M. Holmes ’20 Ms. Elizabeth D. Hopkins ’84 Impressive Printing, Inc. Ms. Holly Ireland Mr. and Mrs. Shane Ireland Mr. and Mrs. Brandon Keith Dr. John P. Knud-Hansen Mr. and Mrs. Reed Kroncke Mr. Ted Kukorowski and Dr. Kimberly Oster Mr. Jean-Paul Lafleur Mrs. Marjory J. Lee Mr. and Mrs. John A. Lewis III Mr. Jay Moore and Prof. Shirley Lin Llandaff Family Foundation Dr. and Mrs. Frederick T. Lohr Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lutz Mr. and Ms. Steven G. MacGlashan ’88 Ms. Brenda Mahaffey Mr. George Mahaffey Ms. Ysabel L. Martinez ’10 Mr. and Mrs. William I. Mason Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Timothy E. McCluskey Mr. and Mrs. Andrew R. McCown In Honor of: Christie Grabis

Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Faff Mr. Michael McFarland McHale Landscape Design Mr. and Mrs. Andrew L. McLean Mrs. Susan H. Mertes Michael J. and Patricia K. Batza Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas W. Miller Mr. and Mrs. Gary L. Miller Mrs. Martha Minor ’70 Ms. Michelle Montalbano Mr. Ronald McDonald and Ms. Emily Moody Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Murphy Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan L. Myers Ms. Barbara L. Myers Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Newberg Mrs. Pam Newberry ’73 Ms. Anne Nielsen ’58 Mrs. Gail Nittle In Honor of: Sydney Nittle ’21 and Bates Nittle ’23

Mrs. Gail Nittle Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Norman Mr. and Mrs. Mark E. Nuessle Hon. and Mrs. John E. Nunn III Mr. and Mrs. Brendan O’Neill O’Shucks Bar, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. David Olds In Honor of: Morgan Garner ’22

Mr. Erik Olson and Mrs. Tiffany Cloud Mr. and Mrs. Georgios Papadopoulos Mr. and Mrs. Andrew B. Parish Mr. and Mrs. Richard Parkhurst Mr. and Mrs. William L. Patton In Memory of: Margurite Thomas and Paul Long

Mr. and Mrs. William L. Patton Mr. Zhi Jian Lin and Mrs. Xiu Mei Peng

Peoples Bank of Kent County Maryland Mr. and Mrs. Michael S. Phillips Prof. and Mrs. Joseph Prud’Homme Ms. Margaret Quimby Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Raley Ms. Edna-Wynn’s Raley Mrs. Marjo Rasin Ms. Annie W. Raymond Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Redding Mr. and Mrs. Harold T. Reece Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Reed Mr. Bryon Reilly and Mrs. Linda C. Reilly ’75 Reliable Pest Control Mr. and Mrs. Michael Rhodes Mr. and Mrs. Michael Riith Dr. and Mrs. Christopher Runz Mr. and Mrs. William G. Ryon Mr. and Mrs. Steven Salos Mr. Robert C. Sanderson Jr. Mr. M. Neil Brownawell and Mrs. Jean W. Scheffenacker-Brownawell ’79 Ms. Lynda Scull Mrs. Elizabeth Seroka Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Simmons Mr. Thomas R. Smith Ms. Sheri Smith In Memory of: Joe Eynck ’13

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey E. Smith Dr. and Mrs. William B. Smith Mrs. Shannon Staley Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Streichler Mr. and Mrs. Peter A. Sturtevant Sr. Sugar Doodles The Talbot Spy Mr. and Mrs. Adam Theeke Mr. and Ms. David Thomas Marie and Stephen Thomas Mr. and Mrs. Brion D. Umidi Mr. and Mrs. Denis Umidi In Honor of: Thomas Umidi ’22 and Samuel Umidi ’19

Mr. and Mrs. Howard B. Freeland Jr. In Memory of: Megan Batdorf

Mr. and Mrs. James H. Walker Ms. Kellee Webb Mr. Moe Weimer What’s Up? Media Ms. Avis D. Wheatley ’01 Mr. and Mrs. Richard White II Mr. Mark R. Wiening Mr. and Mrs. John F. Williamson Mr. and Mrs. William H. Wilmer V Dr. William Wilson and Ms. Mary Samuel Mr. and Mrs. Michael Wootton YMCA of the Chesapeake Dr. and Mrs. George M. Young

Years of Consecutive Giving 5 years Dr. and Mrs. George M. Young Dr. and Mrs. Michael A. Amygdalos Anonymous Avon-Dixon Insurance Mrs. Emily Beck and Mr. Ben Thacker Mrs. Susan Boone Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Boone Kimberlin and Helen Nalty Butcher ‘88 Mr. and Mrs. Pete Cameron Mr. and Mrs. John Caron Mr. and Mrs. Kevin J. Clair Ms. Jane M. Clauson ‘07 Mr. and Mrs. Ernest A. Darling Jr. Mrs. Sara Jane Davidson Mr. and Mrs. Peter De Angelo Ms. Alison DeFino Mr. Blaise F. Dickinson ‘13 The Evans Family (Evan Evans) The Fordi Family Mr. and Mrs. Jody R. Gessford The Gibson Family Gillespie & Son Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Todd S. Gillespie The Gladwood Foundation Mrs. Anne B. Gray Mr. Kurt Gray and Ms. Tegist Worku Mr. and Mrs. Alan R. Griffith Mrs. Mary Grothe ‘63 Ms. Christina Henderson ‘81 Mr. and Mrs. Steven E. Hershey Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Hill Mr. John F. Holland and Ms. Mary Ann Wolf Mr. and Mrs. Christopher I. Holmes Mr. and Mrs. Geoff Holmes Impressive Printing, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. William S. Ingersoll Ms. Elizabeth M. Joyce ‘75 Mr. and Mrs. T. Michael Kaylor Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew P. Kellogg Kent School Mr. and Mrs. William I. Mason Jr. Mr. Michael McFarland Ms. Catherine Murphy and Mr. Bryan McGrath Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Newberg Ms. Jessica Newell Hon. and Mrs. John E. Nunn III Mr. and Mrs. Peter G. Pappas Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Parkhurst ‘88 Mr. and Mrs. Richard Parkhurst Mr. Leo Rocca and Mrs. Christine Rocca ‘54 Ms. Patricia Rudolfs Mr. and Mrs. Walter Schmittinger Mr. and Mrs. Edward Schut Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Seaman Dr. Alexandra Silver Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Streichler Mr. and Mrs. James B. Talbott III

Mr. and Mrs. Brion D. Umidi Mr. and Mrs. Dane P. Ways Ms. Kellee Webb Mr. Moe Weimer Ms. Avis D. Wheatley ‘01 Judith Willock

10 years Mr. Juan P. Angarita and Ms. Liana Anikina Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Batza Jr. Mr. Charles T. Capute Mrs. Jessica Coner Mr. and Mrs. Edward A. Curran Mr. Michal H. Dickinson and Mrs. Franchesa Profaci-Dickinson Mr. N. Ben Dize and Rev. Karen Dize Mr. and Mrs. Mark M. Freestate Dr. and Mrs. Ross I. Heisman Mr. and Mrs. David Henry Mr. John A. Lewis and Dr. Laurie Lewis Mr. and Mrs. John A. Lewis III Mr. and Mrs. Jack Meyerhoff Mr. Bryon Reilly and Mrs. Linda C. Reilly ‘75 Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Simmons The Salmon Foundation, Inc Ms. Kimberly Vess Ms. Diane Watkins Dr. William Wilson and Ms. Mary Samuel Mr. and Mrs. James D. Wright

15 years Mr. and Mrs. J. Tyler Campbell Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. Duffey III ‘54 Dr. and Mrs. Frederick T. Lohr Ms. Rose M. Metcalf Mr. Glenn W. Michael Anonymous Mr. Mark R. Wiening

20 years Mr. and Mrs. James A. Clauson Mr. and Mrs. James E. Gillespie Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Grabis Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Shoemaker

25 years Mr. and Mrs. Preston Everdell